Tangled in Secrets
by Mistyflower68
Summary: Bramblepaw knows why he is here. His only reason in life is to protect his small sister, Rainpaw, from the dangers of being a former loner in a Clan cat's world. But little does he know that a cat of his past is slinking nearer and nearer, responsible for the outraging murders in the forest framed on Bramblepaw. But can Bramblepaw step up for justice?
1. Prologue

** Hi there! I'm **_**Mistyflower68, **_**and this is the sequel to Roses in the Dark… Tangled in Secrets! So Allegiances after the Prologue right now… If you haven't read Roses in the Dark, I strongly suggest that you do, it will make more sense. Oh and review while you're at it! :) I'm a sucker for reviews! **

**Full Summary**

Bramblepaw knows why he is here. His only reason in life is to protect his small sister, Rainpaw, from the dangers of being a former loner in a Clan cat's world. Bramblepaw has to be brutal to protect his sister; she's the only family he has left. But little does he know that a cat of his past is slinking nearer and nearer, responsible for the outraging murders in the forest framed on Bramblepaw. But can Bramblepaw step up for justice?

**Tangled in Secrets**

**Prologue**

Dustpaw was hiding.

He had to. It was in the dead of leaf-bare, and he was stealing prey. No doubt his mother, Mousefall would not approve, though at the moment that was besides importance what the ShadowClan deputy thought; she was the deputy _and _his mother, of course she wouldn't agree with any of his decisions.

Though she'd made a decision that he could taunt her about forever. Heatherstar had asked her to be deputy; Mousefall was still in the nursery with her five moon old kits, Shrewkit, Hawkkit, and Dustkit. Heatherstar had told Mousefall that she'd make her kits apprentices just a tad early.

Mousefall was very upset by this. Dustpaw had listened to her heated conversations she'd had with his father, Antclaw, on the subject. Though by the time the naming of the deputy was due, Mousefall agreed to it, as long as there were no battle trainings, and that her kits got very gentle mentors.

Hawkkit of course became medicine cat apprentice to her idol Goldwhisker, so Mousefall relaxed a lot over that, and Dustpaw was proud that his mother was deputy, even though it required him to be a five moon old apprentice. Dustpaw lowered his brown tabby ears as he thought of this. So much had happened to him in such little time.

He needed to steal prey from ThunderClan though. He was awful at catching any of the prey lurking in ShadowClan; it all seemed to slip away during leaf-bare while ThunderClan seemed fat and happy. If Dustpaw got prey then he could eat himself. He wasn't allowed to eat until he caught prey; this way would be twice as fast.

He had been very careful to cover up his paw steps so far in the few places where he had stepped in the snow. He had been avoiding it as much as possible by jumping up on logs and bare patches underneath the shade of an oak tree, though when snow was steadily falling while he was trying to do so, it became rather difficult.

And now he was forced to hide, because a cat was near. It was a good thing he had rolled in mouse-dung back on ShadowClan territory or he'd be caught for good. Or perhaps not, whoever these unseen cats were, they seemed very hectic. Dustpaw had no idea whether they were even of ThunderClan, he had never actually encountered a ThunderClan cat; he was a new apprentice. But he wasn't taking any chances.

He didn't look at the cats to improve his chances of being caught. Instead he hid inside a log, his dark brown ears carefully strained to pick up any noise.

"It's not safe here!" Dustpaw heard the caterwauling meow of a she-cat. He could smell her fear and it unnerved him.

"Don't worry!" a tom's voice followed. "You're kitting will go fine! Before you know it you'll have a healthy family."

"In the middle of leaf-bare! What was I thinking? And of course with other duties to do! I can't believe I am so mouse-brained! Nobody will ever approve of this!" the she-cat hissed in response. Dustpaw flicked his tail. So the she-cat was kitting.

He tasted the air again to discover a third cat with them. "Don't worry." It was another she-cat. "All will go as planned, just lie down, all you need to do is push."

Dustpaw cringed when he heard the screeches of the kitting she-cat. He could hear the gentle rasping of the tom as he licked over her ears, Dustpaw could tell he was worried.

"I can't do this!" The kitting cat gasped.

"Of course you can! Don't give up! You've made it so far!" the tom cried.

Dustpaw heard a grunt of effort from the tom's mate. "The first kit is out!" The second she-cat yowled in delight.

"Perfect." The kitting she-cat grumbled.

"A little tom," her mate said in between licks.

_He must lick its fur the wrong way. _Dustpaw thought, feeling clever. _I saw Goldwhisker doing that when Shrewpaw was born. _He thought of the ShadowClan medicine cat.

"Bramble." The she-cat meowed, her voice full of new-found love.

"Bramble?" the tom repeated questioningly.

"Yes, that will be his name; don't you think it will suit him?"

"I do."

_Bramble! _Dustpaw thought. _So they must be loners._

"One more." The second she-cat meowed. Dustpaw heard her press her paw against the other she-cat's stomach.

Bramble was whimpering as his father licked him. Dustpaw's heart melted. _So helpless… _he thought glumly.

"The next one is out!" The tom called triumphantly. "Congratulations!" Dustpaw could hear the tom licking his mate again. "We have kits now." He purred.

The now-done kitting she-cat purred. "Tom or she-cat?" she asked about her new kit.

"A she-cat." The tom answered.

"You can name her."

"How about Rain?"

"Perfect." The she-cat purred. "Now we must go."

"Go?" The tom meowed in disbelief. "They could freeze though!"

"And we'll have to take that chance." The she-cat's voice hung in grief and uncertainty. "They won't suffer for long, you know that."

"Of course, but we must hurry and leave."

Dustpaw could hear the she-cat rising to her paws. _They're leaving Bramble and Rain to die in the snow! How fox-hearted! _Dustpaw thought, flexing his claws in anger.

"Take care my loved ones."The she-cat had pressed her nose into each of her kit's fur. "Place them in that bush there, it will sustain them longer."

The tom and the second she-cat grabbed Bramble and Rain to hide them in a bush near Dustpaw.

"Let's go." The tom meowed. "And hurry!"

Dustpaw didn't hear the she-cat's response as the three cats bolted away. He could only hear the cries of Bramble and Rain. _I must do something! _He thought desperately.

Slowly, he peered out of the warm log he had been hiding in to be met by the sharp frostiness of the snow and biting wind. _I must bring them with me. _Dustpaw told himself, giving his brown tabby pelt a shake to clear the snow from it.

Silent as an adder, Dustpaw crept out. His appearance made neat paw prints embedded in the snow. _I can cover it later. _He figured. _I need to get Bramble and Rain back to ShadowClan though! Our Clan will never neglect these kits in need. _

He poked his head into the snowy bush where Bramble and Rain were hidden. The snow covered his head in a soft and wet coat. He saw the two kits clumped together, they're ears back as they whimpered loudly; their soft pink mouths so miniscule. He finally got a good look at them.

The tom, Bramble, was a short-furred and stocky light brown tom. He had large muscles even though he was too young to do much of anything. _Lucky Furball! _He had long and thin black tabby stripes surrounding his rough fur.

His sister, Rain was quite eye-catching. She had long soft pale gray tabby fur. Her underbelly was as white as snow and blended in pretty well against the frost the gently soured down to them right now. Rain had a small and slender figure, her bushy tail wrapped around her face to keep her warm. She stayed quiet mostly, only letting out a squeak every now and then as she pressed against her larger brother for support.

_They really are so helpless…. _Dustpaw thought. He hated that he could hear their hearts beating rapidly as though they were nothing more than a shrew or mouse. _Believe it or not, _he told himself. _But some kits have been lost that way. _

Without further hesitation, Dustpaw leaned forward and snatched Rain and Bramble in his jaws by their scruffs. The kits let out mewls of frustration and surprise but Dustpaw didn't let go. Quickly as he could with the added weight of two newborn kits, he made his way to ShadowClan territory.

_Don't worry little kits. _He thought. _We'll keep you safe. My Clan will take care of you. I'll take care of you, you'll see. _

He burst out his tabby chest in pride as he trotted towards ShadowClan camp.

_Won't Mousefall be so proud of me!_

He picked up the pace as he neared, easily evading the large pine trees in his territory. _How nice it is in ShadowClan, I'd hate to be anywhere else! _He thought.

When he arrived at camp, he squeezed his way inside where all was silent. This was unnerving. All his Clanmates had turned to stare at him, their jaws were dropped with surprise, some seeming disgusted.

"I need to speak with Heatherstar." Dustpaw mumbled in a mouthful of fur, his eyes flickering from cat to cat.

He noticed the blue-gray pelt of his leader as she slid out of the Leader's Den. She flashed her sharp blue gaze towards him and her eyes narrowed, her nose wrinkled in opposition. "What is this Dustpaw?" she confronted as she stormed up to them.

"They're kits." Dustpaw meowed ignorantly. _Duh._

"And why are they here?" Heatherstar demanded.

Dustpaw struggled not to crumple underneath her gaze. "I found them." He excused himself, dropping his eyes down to his paws.

"And why you brought them here?" Heatherstar continued, flicking her tail with displease.

"I couldn't let them die in the cold if that's what you would have wanted me to do. It's in the warrior code, you know; never neglect a kit in danger." Dustpaw meowed half-heartedly.

Heatherstar took in a deep breath. "Well what do we do with them now? We certainly aren't taken them in. Unlike ThunderClan, ShadowClan has pure warrior blood. The day we start taking in rogues, Half-Clanners, and kittypets will be the day I die."

"Then what do we do with them? I'm not leader." Dustpaw argued, his fur starting to fluff out defensively.

"Let me talk to Mousefall and Goldwhisker of this; not an irresponsible young apprentice." Dustpaw tried not to take offense to those words. Heatherstar lifted her head, looking around the clearing at the seemingly petrified cats around her. "Well don't just stand and stare; find me Mousefall and Goldwhisker." She told them sternly.

Reluctantly, the cats broke away from eachother, some disappearing into the warrior's den and some into the medicine cat's den. Soon, Dustpaw noticed the small brown form of his mother emerging from the warrior's den, her bright green eyes alert and ever-attentive.

"What's going on?" Mousefall asked, sitting down beside Heatherstar and exchanging glances between her leader and her son.

"Dustpaw has brought newborn kittens into ShadowClan, loners. Doesn't he know that ShadowClan doesn't take in loners?" she rambled.

Mousefall twitched her whiskers. "Well Heatherstar, I don't think it would be fair to leave a helpless kitten for dead, so I don't see what else we could do besides taking them in." she meowed.

Heatherstar flicked her tail, thinking. "But we surely can't keep them forever. ShadowClan has plenty of warriors and healthy kits, all these two would do is taint our blood and be another mouth to feed." She reasoned.

"What about we take them in until they are the age to be 'paws. We can mentor them then so that they are useful for the time being, but then at the next Gathering we'll bring them, and ask if any Clans wish to claim them, or if we should just let them go." Mousefall meowed, dipping her head in thought.

Heatherstar smiled. "I like how you think." She meowed. "So we will take them in." Dustpaw's heart beat rapidly in his chest with hope for the young kits; his mother had just saved their lives. "Who will nurse them?"

"We can ask Willowbreath or Echopool." Mousefall suggested.

Heatherstar nodded meekly. "Willowbreath!" she called, looking over at the nursery. Dustpaw saw a pale gray queen poke her head out of the nursery.

"What is it now?" she asked, clearly exhausted.

_She does have three kits to take care of already. _Dustpaw thought, glancing at Bramble and Rain who had finally stopped their crying and were hanging from his jaws like a piece of prey.

"Will you watch these two kits? And nurse them?" Mousefall asked.

"What do I look like to you? I'm only one queen and I already have plenty of kits to watch right now, I have no time to watch others." Willowbreath hissed.

"I'll take care of them."

Dustpaw noticed a silver tabby she-cat slip out of the nursery, her belly rounding with kits. It was Echopool, the other current queen in ShadowClan, expecting her mate, Runningdust's kits. She padded over to look at Bramble and Rain curiously. "They sure are adorable." She noted.

"Echopool, are you mouse-brained? Why would you want to look after those two rogues?" Willowbreath spat.

"I…" Echopool looked at Willowbreath with curiosity. "I think it would be good practice for me." She murmured. "I am having my kits in a few moons, and these ones seem very quiet and friendly." She added, leaning down to sniff them.

_Oh you didn't have to put up with them whining all the way back to camp. _Dustpaw thoughts, twitching his whiskers with amusement. He swiped his tail around the kits affectionately. "So you'll look after them?" he prompted her. Echopool nodded.

"I'd be delighted to."

**ThunderClan**

_Leader _**Rosestar – **Long-furred dark cream she-cat with icy blue eyes and reddish paws, ears, muzzle, and tail  
**Apprentice; Goldenpaw**

_Deputy _**Hailwhisker – **Gray she-cat with white patches and blue eyes

_Medicine Cat _**Petalwind – **White she-cat with light brown patches and amber eyes

_**Warriors (toms and she-cats without kits)**_

**Stonefang – **Large gray tabby tom with green eyes

**Flamewind – **Long-furred ginger and white tom with green eyes  
**Apprentice; Silverpaw**

**Grayblaze – **Shaggy gray tom with a white stripe running down his face; amber eyes

**Forestclaw – **Dark brown tabby tom with blue eyes

**Firestripe – **Golden brown tabby tom with amber eyes

**Redstreak – **Dark reddish tabby tom with dark blue eyes

**Snowfeather – **Sleek white she-cat with green eyes

_**Apprentices (more than six moons old, in training to become warriors)**_

**Silverpaw – **Pretty silver she-cat with light blue eyes

**Goldenpaw – **Golden tabby tom with amber eyes; Formerly of RiverClan

_**Queens (she-cats, expecting or nursing kits)**_

**Featherfoot – **Long-furred silver tabby she-cat; mother of Firestripe's kits: **Lightkit **(Light brown she-cat) and **Thrushkit **(Dark ginger tom)

**Dawnpool – **Ginger and cream she-cat with brown eyes; mother of Flamewind's kit: **Sandkit **(Pale ginger she-cat)

**Shinedove – **Silver and white she-cat; expecting Forestclaw's kits

_**Elders (warriors and queens, now retired)**_

**Bluedove – **Blueish gray she-cat

**Thornbird – **Golden tabby tom with green eyes

**Leafsparrow – **Long-furred brown tabby and white she-cat with amber eyes

**ShadowClan**

_**Leader **_**Heatherstar – **Slender blue-gray she-cat with cold green eyes

_**Deputy **_** Mousefall – **Little brown she-cat with green eyes

_**Medicine Cat **_**Goldwhisker – **Light brown tabby she-cat  
**Apprentice, Hawkpaw**

_**Warriors (toms and she-cats without kits)**_

**Heavyfang – **Gray and white tom

**Firestream – **Dark ginger tom

**Blackstorm – **Huge black tom

**Whiskerpool – **Black and white she-cat  
**Apprentice, Shrewpaw**

**Antclaw – **Light brown tabby tom

**Darkstream – **Dark tabby tom with burning amber eyes

**Runningdust – **Brown tabby tom  
**Apprentice, Dustpaw**

_**Apprentices (more than six moons old, in training to become warriors)**_

**Shrewpaw – **Dark ginger tabby she-cat

**Dustpaw – **Lithe dark brown tabby tom

**Hawkpaw – **Pretty slender light brown and white she-cat, medicine cat apprentice

_**Queens (Expecting or nursing kits)**_

**Wilowbreath – **Pale gray she-cat, mother to Blackstorm's kits: **Boulderkit **(Gray tabby tom), **Aspenkit** (Light gray tabby she-cat), and **Cloudkit **(Very pale gray tom)

**Echopool – **Slender silver she-cat, expecting Runningdust's kits , nursing the former loners **Bramblekit **(Large light brown tabby tom with thin black stripes and green eyes) and **Rainkit **(Long-haired gray tabby-and-white she-cat with dark blue eyes)

_**Elders (warriors and queens now retired)**_

**Rowanflower – **Ginger and white she-cat

**Whitewind – **Tawny she-cat with white paws

**Ridgewhisker – **Pure black tom

**RiverClan**

_Leader _**Boulderstar – **Dark gray tom

_Deputy _**Jaythorn – **Long-furred gray tabby and white tom with amber eyes

_Medicine Cat _**Minnowbreath – **Sleek tabby she-cat with blue eyes**  
Apprentice; Honeypaw**

_**Warriors (toms and she-cats without kits)**_

**Splashingfire – **Lithe ginger tom with bright green eyes  
**Apprentice, Sunpaw**

**Whiteflame – **Pretty slender white she-cat

**Sorrelfeather – **Tortoiseshell, black, and white she-cat

**Owlpelt – **Pale gray and white tom  
**Apprentice, Brightpaw**

**Rockthorn – **Black tom

**Crowfoot – **Large black and white tom  
**Apprentice, Ivypaw**

**Beetleclaw – **Dark brown tabby tom

_**Apprentices (more than six moons old, in training to become warriors)**_

**Brightpaw – **Golden tabby she-cat with a white underbelly and green eyes

**Sunpaw – **Pale ginger tom, green eyes

**Honeypaw – **Very pale gold she-cat with light green eyes, Medicine Cat Apprentice

**Ivypaw – **Silver tabby she-cat

_**Queens (she-cats, expecting or nursing kits)**_

**Twistwind – **Ginger tabby she-cat, expecting Beetleclaw's kits

**Birdwing – **Gray and cream she-cat with amber eyes, mother of Rockthorn's kits, **Swiftkit **(White tom with black patches), and **Tigerkit **(Cream she-cat with black markings)

**Flutterfur – **Ginger queen

_**Elders (Warriors and Queens now retired)**_

**Willowfur – **Pale gray she-cat

**Birchfrost – **Tabby tom

**Sparkshine – **Ginger tom retired early due to terrible injuries

**WindClan**

_Leader _**Burningstar – **Large long-furred ginger and white tom with amber eyes

_Deputy _**Streamfang – **Lithe gray tom with green eyes  
**Apprentice, Springpaw**

_Medicine Cat _**Runningleaf – **Light brown tabby she-cat

_**Warriors (toms and she-cats without kits)**_

**Littleclaw – **Small tortoiseshell she-cat

**Barkleap – **Bulky brown tom

**Troutbreeze – **Tabby tom

_**Apprentices (More than six moons old, in training to become warriors)**_

**Springpaw – **Slim tortoiseshell ginger and white she-cat

_**Queens (she-cats, expecting or nursing kits)**_

**Rushfall – **Slender black she-cat with green eyes; mother to Burningstar's kits: **Mothkit **(Dark ginger she-cat with a black muzzle), **Foxkit **(Large ginger tom), **Mistykit **(Long-furred black she-cat), and **Sparrowkit **(Black tom with a white underbelly)

**Blackcloud – **Pretty black she-cat; mother of Troutbreeze's kits; **Fernkit **(Pale tabby she-cat) and **Russetkit **(Russet-colored tom)

_**Elders (warriors and queens now retired)**_

**Sparrowthorn – **Dark brown tom

**Cats Outside of Clans**

**Larchwing – **Sleek golden she-cat; formerly of RiverClan

**Shine – **Blue-gray tabby she-cat, lives at the Horseplace, formerly of WindClan, formerly called Bluewhisker

**Cave – **Big gray tom, lives at the Horseplace, formerly of WindClan, formerly called Grayblood

**Dew – **Pale gray she-cat, lives at the Horseplace, formerly of WindClan, formerly called Dewpaw

**Ellie – **Pretty plump ginger she-cat, lives at the Horseplace

**Tribe of Rushing Water**

_**Healer **_**Teller of The Pointed Stones (Stoneteller) – **Thin gray she-cat with green eyes

_**Prey-Catchers**_

**Dusk of Cool Weather (Dusk) – **Golden-brown tabby she-cat

**Breeze That Flies Through (Breeze) – **Pretty pale gray she-cat

**Hawk With Tawny Feathers (Hawk) - **Ginger tom

_**Cave-Guards**_

**Cloud That Drifts Over Oaks (Cloud) – **Pale gray and white tabby tom

**White Stone on the Ground (White) – **Stocky blue-gray tabby tom

_**To-Be's**_

**Bright Colors in the Sky (Bright) – **Pale ginger she-cat, training to be a cave-guard

_**Den-Mothers**_

**Dove That Floats On The Wind (Dove) – **Long-furred gray she-cat; mother of **Hawk's** kits: **Frost That Coats** **The Ferns** **(Frost) **(Light gray tabby she-cat with amber eyes) and **Pool of Gray Waters (Pool) **(Dark gray she-cat with blue eyes)

**Stream of Dappled Shadows (Stream) – **Gray tabby she-cat; expecting Cloud's kits


	2. Chapter 1

** Hello! So here is officially Chapter 1, thanks for reviewing! I decided not to have titles for the Chapters anymore… gives away too much information. And in case you were wondering, yes, all of our friends from Roses in the Dark will be part of this story, even though at the time it is taking place in ShadowClan. Here are your review answers!**

**Korean Smiles:**** Ooo new penname! :D And my first reviewer to my new story! Oh yes, I love that Rosestar is leader… because I love her… Thanks for reviewing!**

**Rainbowshine:**** Oh yes! Hooray for Shinedove! :) I plan to give her a little more character in this story too, considering that she is Rosestar's only remaining sibling. Thanks for reviewing and thanks for the compliments! :)**

**Foxbracken:**** Hi! Thanks for reviewing! And nah, I don't like either of them… and you get to hate them even more in this chapter yay! Or… yay?**

**Stuck in a mirror:**** Yep! Thanks for reviewing :D**

**Stunningfire:**** Here's your update! :D Thanks!**

**Wildstep:**** I sure hope so :) Thanks for reviewing!**

**Bells are Still Ringing:**** Thanks! And of course they will be in this… I don't dare leave them out *shudder shudder***

**DahliaStarr:**** Hehe isn't he? I already love Dustpaw… and oo clever you! Picking up my little hints already I see! ;) Thanks for reviewing! Update your story soon to because I adore it!**

**Blazingnight:**** Yep! :) Thanks for reviewing!**

**Cinderleaf:**** Aww! I'm honored! Honestly it makes me so very happy! :) I'll surely read your stories! :) Thanks for reviewing! Oh and I almost never sign in when I'm on my iPod (Which is most of the time) :)**

**xXEnigmaXx:**** Oh that's fine! I just appreciate you reviewing once. And I think you meant ShadowClan, and if so; then yes, unless my brain gets another crazy idea that becomes reality which almost happened in Roses in the Dark (Rosestar almost joining RiverClan) Again, thanks for reviewing! :D**

**Sunny:**** Thanks a ton! I love and appreciate reviews so much! :D**

**Rain's Breeze:**** Thanks for the compliments and for reviewing! I hope this lives up to your expectations :)**

**Chapter 1**

"Bramblekit! No!"

Rainkit's desperate cry was too late; Bramblekit took a large swing at the smaller gray tabby tom in front of him, Boulderkit. His claws were unsheathed, his lips drawn back into a snarl as he glared at the kit. Before he could realize what he was doing, Bramblekit had clawed Boulderkit across the face, knocking the younger tom back with a squeal of pain and a spray of small scarlet drops.

Boulderkit lay across the ground, mewing in pain. Bramblekit felt no sympathy, nor regrets for what he had just done. He sheathed his claws and sat back onto his haunches. He twisted his head around to look at his sister, Rainkit.

Her long gray and white tabby fur was fluffed out twice her size in fear; her dark blue eyes were wide with shock. She stood evenly on all four paws, looking at Bramblekit with despair. Rainkit was his sister, and his world. She was his kin, and when she didn't stand up for herself, Bramblekit had to.

You wouldn't be able to tell that they were littermates very easily, Bramblekit looked nothing like her, and acted nothing the same as well. He was a short-furred large light brown tabby tom with thin dark black stripes and dark green eyes. She was shy, he was head-strong. She didn't fend for herself and Bramblekit would whack a cat for looking in the wrong direction. Right now though, was not a time for comparisons, their life in ShadowClan had been difficult since they arrived.

"Bramblekit," Rainkit whimpered. "What have you done?"

Bramblekit felt surprise course through him. "I whacked him of course! The fox-heart deserved it, telling you that you lack warrior blood!" Bramblekit spat, glaring off in the corner of his eye at Boulderkit. His gaze returned to rest on Rainkit who seemed speechless.

"I…" Rainkit opened her jaws to answer, but as she did so, she was interrupted by a shriek.

Bramblekit whipped his head back around to look at Boulderkit as he was hovered over by his mother, Willowbreath, a look of pure terror and anger on her pale gray face. The queen lifted her head to glare at Bramblekit, fury indulged in them. Bramblekit calmly met her gaze, his fur blistering in defiance.

"Why would you harm my kit? You… you…" Willowbreath was lost for words as she dropped her head back down over Boulderkit. Her gray tabby kit slowly got to his paws to reveal blood dripping down from fresh claw marks across his face.

Bramblekit took this news calmly, though he could feel his sister's worry rise. "You what?" he challenged.

Willowbreath held his gaze for a moment longer before throwing her head back in distress. "Echopool! Come here; come and see what your _kit_ has done!" She wailed, turning to face the exit of the small enclosure that was the nursery.

The familiar silver tabby pelt of Echopool appeared in view. She exchanged a glance with Bramblekit, her eyes giving away nothing when she returned to Willowbreath. "I believe justice has been served, just not in an appropriate way." She meowed dryly.

Willowbreath released an irritated hiss and swung back around to scoop up Boulderkit and march out of the nursery, heading for the medicine cat den.

"He won't need any herbs or cobwebs; it's just a little scratch." Bramblekit remarked.

Echopool let out a slow sigh, her green eyes fixating on Bramblekit. "You know that I'm disappointed in you." She said in a low voice. "I expect more out of you, and if you want cats to respect you, it's not a good idea to go around scratching every cat who defies you."

"He earned it." Bramblekit snarled. "Did you hear what he called us?"

Echopool paused for a moment, as if gathering her thoughts up on the subject. She lowered her head and shook it. "No, I didn't, and I'm sure you didn't deserve it, but you need to learn that violence isn't the answer to everything." She slowly yet sternly.

Bramblekit sniffed his nose. "And maybe he should learn that even if I have no _warrior blood _I can still claw him to shreds any day, any time." He growled, holding Echopool's gaze.

Echopool sighed, her shoulders tense. "Why do I even try to reason with you?" She meowed.

"For my sake." Rainkit's loud meow sounded from behind Bramblekit. His sister came running forward to halt beside him. Bramblekit sighed, whenever around other cats, Rainkit didn't show her true colors, she appeared far too afraid to even think of being a warrior, whereas when she was with those she trusted such as Echopool and Bramblekit; she was humorous and open.

Echopool purred with amusement. She turned her head to look outside of the nursery for a moment, her whiskers twitching. She looked back at the two kits, blinking her large eyes. "Well, Runningdust is inviting me to go share some fresh-kill with him, you two be good." She instructed.

Bramblekit nodded slightly as she turned around to slide out of the nursery, the white tip of her tail disappearing from sight. He shuffled his paws, casting a sideways glance at Rainkit who stared blankly ahead.

"You should go see how Boulderkit is doing." She meowed suddenly.

Bramblekit cocked his head at her. "Why would I do that?" he asked.

"It's a different way of apology, without having to say "I'm sorry" upfront."

"I'm not sorry at all though." Bramblekit scoffed.

Rainkit fixed her intense gaze on him, disappointment littered in her eyes. Bramblekit sighed. "Fine, I will; not for him though." He meowed.

"I'll stay here." Rainkit meowed. "I'm tired, and Dustpaw said that he'd visit when he got back from dawn patrol."

Bramblekit smiled, Dustpaw, being that cat that found them, had always trusted them, and never once doubted their abilities or health because they didn't have the legendary warrior blood. Rainkit liked Dustpaw too; he was one of the few cats who she held close to her heart.

"Okay." He meowed, rising to his paws. "I'll talk with you later."

"Bye."

Bramblekit made his way out of the nursery, met by a wisp of cool air splashing him in the face. He breathed in the frosty air of leaf-bare. He scanned the clearing, ShadowClan camp to find it rather vague, the only cats out were Echopool, her mate Runningdust, and Darkstream, a dark tabby tom.

Bramblekit looked in direction of the medicine cat den, the musty smell of herbs wavering off of it. He crinkled his nose with disgust. He didn't know how Goldwhisker or Hawkpaw could _stand _serving their Clan in there; let alone sleeping in there.

He spurred towards it at a lanky jog. He could see Willowbreath's pale gray back facing him, her tail wavering with anxiousness. _She over-reacts too much. _Bramblekit thought of her. _It was just a scratch after all, just a reminder. _

He slows stepped inside of the medicine cat den; peering around Willowbreath he saw the pale ginger pelt of Goldwhisker. The elderly medicine cat sat examining Boulderkit's wound. "It will be fine." She meowed. "Doesn't even need any herbs by the looks of it. Just come back if it starts to really hurt and I'll give you some herbs that will help reduce the pain." She instructed.

"What do you mean it doesn't need herbs? The blood is streaming down his face!" Willowbreath protested loudly, her fur standing on end.

Goldwhisker remained calm, meeting her Clanmate in the eye. "The scratch isn't very deep at all. Itlooks a lot worse than it actually is."

Willowbreath exhaled sharply, clearly irritated by the ShadowClan medicine cat. "And what punishment to you have for the one who did this to him."

"I'll get him back." Boulderkit meowed. "All I'd have to do was comment on his warrior blood." He scoffed.

That was enough to do it for Bramblekit, again. "You fox-hearted coward!" he snarled, leaping forward, his fur fluffed out. "Say that again and I'll give you a scar to match that one." He growled, his claw sliding out from where they hid. He felt various eyes turn to watch him and feelings of horror prickling from Willowbreath.

"Bramblekit!" Hawkpaw yowled, jumping to her paws, her light brown and white fur standing on end. She rushed forward towards him.

"Don't get in the way of this." Bramblekit grumbled to her.

"Bramblekit, listen to me!" Before he could stop her, Hawkpaw had snagged his scruff in her teeth and proceeded to pull him away. Bramblekit struggled against the larger cat.

"Let me go!" he hissed.

Hawkpaw ignored him, dragging him out of the medicine cat den and into the clearing where she spat him out fiercely. Bramblekit hissed, scrambling to his paws to face her. "What was that all about?" he growled.

Hawkpaw exhaled sharply. "Bramblekit, you cannot keep this up!" she growled. "Heatherstar hates you enough as it is, do you want her dumping you and Rainkit out in the middle of nowhere as soon as you're six moons old?"

A tug of worry gripped at Bramblekit's heart. He quickly shook it off, not settling time to think about it. "I have a right to defend myself." He meowed.

"We go through this every other day Bramblekit!" Hawkpaw whimpered. "You need to be the better cat here, for Rainkit, just think about it okay? And stay away from Boulderkit."

"But-

"For your sister's sake." Hawkpaw growled. "You don't want her being thrown out of ShadowClan because of you."

Bramblekit sighed. "I guess not." He grumbled. He hated being the cause for his sister's downfall.

"Good then." Hawkpaw meowed. "Now go get a good night's rest… please?" She was practically begging. Bramblekit noticed her muscles were tight with stress.

"Fine." Bramblekit meowed curtly. Hawkpaw turned around back to the medicine cat and slowly walked inside, her head hanging. Bramblekit watched her go, slight guilt prickling him. He pushed it past him again and turned around to scan the clearing. It was still rather empty, though he saw Echopool sharing tongues with Runningdust by the fresh-kill pile.

He padded over to the nursery, the snow beneath his paws cold and wetting his brown tabby fur. He peeked inside of the cozy nursery to see the lithe dark brown form of Dustpaw before him. The tabby tom's tail slithered back and forth as he spoke animatedly to Rainkit.

Bramblekit dashed one paw forward, pinning Dustpaw's tail in a heartbeat a spark of delight flashing through him at his success.

Dustpaw gave a yowl of surprise, pulling his tail out from underneath Bramblekit's grasp to curl it by his side. He turned around, his face showing bewilderment until he saw who it was. His green eyes softened. "Hi Bramblekit." He meowed.

"Hi Dustpaw." Bramblekit meowed, padding past him to go and sit by his sister.

"I was just telling Rainkit about what we found on the border." Dustpaw mewed.

Bramblekit cocked his head, pretending to be more interested than he actually was. Dustpaw was a sap for attention from those who he cared about, and fortunately for him, Rainkit was always all-ears for his stories that spilled out of him like he was an elder.

Rainkit was watching Dustpaw with large and fascinated blue eyes. Bramblekit just kindly turned his head in Dustpaw's direction to listen.

"Okay," Dustpaw started. "So while we were traveling along the ThunderClan border for our patrol, I found a very interesting thing." He murmured. "It was a pine cone, nothing too special, but I looked at it really closely and noticed that in each different side of the pine cone, the small shards that were on the side of it were shaped differently. Whether one side's was sharper than the other or what, they definitely were different… so I brought them in for Goldwhisker to see." He paused.

"I swear I could be a medicine cat, I see omens wherever I go." He cracked.

Rainkit purred with amusement. "Wonderful." Bramblekit mewed, faking entertainment. Of course, Dustpaw was a wonderful friend of his, but when the brown tabby tom was making jokes, Bramblekit didn't find it too funny like Rainkit did.

"I'll check back in on Goldwhisker tomorrow to see if she got anything out of it." Dustpaw meowed, twitching his whiskers. He twisted his head over his shoulder to look out of the nursery for just a second. "It's pretty late out now… I'll go get Echopool to come back so you guys can get to sleep."

"I'm not tired." Rainkit meowed softly, shuffling her paws.

"You're four moons old. You need sleep." Dustpaw argued shortly. "Now good night." He vanished out of the nursery, letting the dull moonlight poor in.

Bramblekit stretched his jaws apart in a yawn. "We do need to get to sleep." Bramblekit commented. Rainkit only nodded meekly in response. She ruffled out her long downy gray fur to keep herself warm and curled into a tight ball. Bramblekit joined next to her, his fur brushing against hers protectively. He hoped that Echopool would be here soon to keep them warm.


	3. Chapter 2

** Stressful stressful week. My grandpa had a stroke :( He's okay but I'm so very worried… School's out very soon which means that I can update like twice as fast! So I know that was a bit of an abrupt start, but I wanted to capture reader's who may not have read **_**Roses in the Dark**_**'s attention. It calms down a bit here and I need to do some character building for the next few times, but of course I'll add some twists to keep your attention :) **

**Foxbracken****: Thanks! And you're good at picking up my little tidbits of clues aren't you? :) Thanks for reviewing!**

**Rainbowshine****: Oh yes Heatherstar is a rude little cat. I don't like her… Haha. And thank you SO much for saying that! You don't know how much it means to me! I appreciate it so much! :D**

**Pengirl****: So sorry I haven't been updating your story… I feel awful for not doing it. I get out of school this upcoming Thursday, then I'll be able to update it more okay? Thanks for the review!**

**Stunningfire****: Oh yes, I already love them together :) Thanks for reviewing!**

** xX****EnigmaXx****: *applause* Good job reviewing! :) Your thoughts honestly are pretty much the same as mine… are you a mind reader? Thanks for reviewing! And a long review at that :)**

**Rain's Breeze****:** **Thanks! And I think I need to do a bit of character building before an adventure, but don't worry! There will be lots to come! **

**Stuck in a mirror****: Haha, thank you! :)**

**Sunleaf13****: Hooray! You signed in! :) Here's your next chapter!**

**DahliaStarr****: Thanks for reviewing! Hm… Echopaw's warrior name… Hmmm…. Echoblaze? Last part sounds a bit masculine but I think the Echo makes up for it a bit… Echostream? Echobreeze? **

**Stormfeather of IceClan****: Thanks a ton! :)**

**Galefire****: Oh yay! You're back! Indeed it is a party time! And my parents' anniversary… Haha. Thanks for reviewing! And oh yes I agree my writing has improved. I looked back at the earlier chapter of Roses in the Dark and I was horrified at their quality. XD I'm happy you took a chance on me and stayed with it!**

**VioletWind****: Hehe Thornbird's a zombie cat? Thanks for the compliments and reviewing! :)**

**Chapter 2**

Sunlight poured into the cold nursery, a strange warmth brought along with it that Bramblekit hadn't felt in a very long time. The brown tabby kit blinked a few times to allow his eyes to adjust to the morning light.

"Probably won't last long." He mumbled; thinking of the harsh leaf-bare ShadowClan had been suffering so far along. _And far from over._

"Optimistic much?"

Rainkit's soft voice surprised Bramblekit. He twisted his head to see the long striped gray fur of his sister as she sat by the entrance to the nursery, her head bent around to look at him with her large blue eyes. Her form marked a shadow for the sun to shine in the corner of the den.

"Why are you awake so early?" Bramblekit asked, slowly rising to his paws to give a wonderfully long stretch. He stepped over the still tail of Echopool who lay asleep, curled up tight to conserve heat. Bramblekit padded over to join his sister.

Rainkit shrugged to him. "Thought I'd give it a shot for a change." She meowed, a spark of amusement held in her eye. "I think I like it."

Bramblekit purred with humor. He had always been a morning cat, waking early just to watch the sunrise and things unravel in camp. Rainkit slept commonly until after sun-high, and then would beg the exhausted Dustpaw to tell her stories of his 'adventures' in ShadowClan camp because she couldn't sleep.

"Maybe Dustpaw will get some sleep tonight." He mewed good-naturedly.

Rainkit bumped into him, faking to be offended. "Hey!" She squeaked.

Bramblekit quickly slapped his tail over her mouth. "Be quiet." He said in a hushed voice, casting a sideways glance over at his sleeping denmates. "We don't want to wake them."

"I think we should, I'm kind of bored." Rainkit meowed.

"I wouldn't mind if you woke up Boulderkit though," he added cheerfully. "Ruin his day for me please?"

Rainkit put on a solemn frown. "You need to work things out with him Bramblekit."

Bramblekit felt frustration flare up inside of him. He abruptly pushed it away, putting a smile of encouragement on his face. "And you need to act like this around all our other Clanmates!" He thought of the quiet little kit she was when she was with cats other than Dustpaw, Echopool, or Bramblekit.

Rainkit's frown grew. "I'm faring fine." She argued quietly. "If you didn't stand up for me then maybe you and Boulderkit would get along."

Bramblekit's lips drew back in a snarl at thought of him and the gray tabby tom friends. "I'd kill him before I got along with him."

"Don't say that." Rainkit scolded gently. "Killing… killing is horrible." She shuddered, a cloudy look of fear in her eyes.

Bramblekit didn't push her further on that, despite the nagging urge to. He turned his furry head to look back into the nursery to see a small silver head rise.

"Hey… Aspenkit's up."

He couldn't decide whether he should be excited or resented. He had never really conversed with this cat and had tended to avoid doing so as she was the sister of Boulderkit, daughter of two cats sworn to reside in the Dark Forest after their deaths, Willowbreath and Blackstorm.

_But who am I to judge on heritage?_ He frowned at himself. _My parents were a pair of mouse-brained fox-hearts. _He scowled before lifting his head towards Aspenkit. _Maybe I could give her a chance…_

"Hi…" Aspenkit's voice rang out loudly. Bramblekit could feel embarrassment waving off of her.

Bramblekit didn't say anything, just continued to look at his paws.

"Hello," Rainkit said softly, though she didn't make an attempt to look at the younger kit.

Aspenkit waved her tail. "So… I was thinking that maybe we could play together sometime?" The silver tabby she-cat's face was lit. "I have to warn you, I'm a mean Adderstar!" she joked.

Rainkit purred lightly, raising her head. "That'd be fun, but Adderstar always loses! And Rosestar always wins!" she teased.

Bramblekit felt his tail twitch with a fear for his sister. _What if Aspenkit just wants revenge on me for hurting Boulderkit through my sister. _He thought, casting a sideways glance at the two other kits.

"Let's go outside and play!" Aspenkit meowed.

"Okay." Rainkit didn't seem too enthused about it, at anything a bit nervous. Why would Aspenkit come now to speak with her after so many moons of ignoring her? Rainkit padded out of the nursery at a trot, leaving Bramblekit and Aspenkit behind.

Bramblekit whipped around to face Aspenkit, his fur on edge. "Lay a claw on my sister and you'll be crow-food." He hissed, glaring into her light green eyes.

Aspenkit seemed shocked for a moment, as she didn't move, but quickly recovered. Her fur stilled and she sat back on her haunches, her tail curled around her and the tip flicking mischievously.

"Of course I won't hurt her." She scoffed. "I'm not that kind of cat." She said, giving her chest fur a dignified lick. "But maybe, if you stop clawing my brother then I'll be a little friendlier to you." She hissed, turning away from him at an un-breaking stride out of the nursery.

Bramblekit pinned his ears back in anger. This was yet another cat to quarrel with in his eyes. He flared his nose and lashed out his tail, struggling to contain the rising fury inside of him. _Easy now… I don't need another cat hating me and Rainkit do I?_

"'Morning Bramblekit."

Bramblekit turned his head around to see Echopool slowly striding towards him, pausing to stretch out her muscles midway. "Hi Echopool." He meowed in a soft voice.

"How are you?" Echopool asked, then lifted her head to glance around. "Where's Rainkit at?"

"She's out playing with Aspenkit." Bramblekit replied dryly.

Echopool's eyes lit up at this news. "Oh that great!" she purred. "Why don't you go and join them?" she asked, tilting her head.

Bramblekit tightened his jaws. "Well… I don't play too much, I don't find it enjoyable." He excused himself lightly.

Echopool gave him a funny look but didn't push any further. "Fair enough." She said.

"I'm going to go get some prey." Bramblekit mumbled, rising to his paws.

"Don't eat too much." Echopool called after him quietly as his tail tip disappeared from her view.

Bramblekit immediately scanned the clearing for his sister; if that fox-heart Aspenkit did anything bad to her she'd end up just like her sorry excuse for a brother. He noticed the two kits shortly, seeing them romp around softly on the snow. Bramblekit twitched his ears as he heard the distinctive purr of his sister. She was enjoying herself.

Rainkit twirled around Aspenkit, dashing out jabs at her quick as lightning, her dark blue eyes gleaming with delight. Aspenkit swirled around; her light strikes were aimed for Rainkit's legs, trying to trip her for her to tumble to the ground.

_Aspenkit seems to know battle tactics… but then again, so do I. _He thought as he watched them. _At least Rainkit is opening up to other cats. _He looked on the bright side. _But from stories I've heard from the elders, cats that you trust could easily be enemies, ready to stab you in the back when you aren't looking. _

He shook his head from that thought and plodded through the deep snow towards the fresh-kill pile. He reached it quickly to find only a thin mouse laying there, a leftover from yesterday's catch. _I hope the hunting patrols start to head out soon. _He thought. _This is barely enough to feed me. _

He picked up the mouse in his jaws and dragged it away from the now non-existent pile. He made his way to the edge of the clearing, his usual spot. He brushed away from snow with his paw, making room for himself to lay down to feast on the mouse.

The taste of it was stale, having been out all night, but he savored it anyways, holding the taste on his tongue and letting it fill his empty stomach. He cast frequent looks over to where Rainkit and Aspenkit were playing, fidgeting his tail nervously as he watched them. He returned to his mouse, nearly finishing it all in his hunger, the mouse didn't provide much meat anyways.

He noticed a dark ginger tabby she-cat emerge from the apprentice den. It was Dustpaw's sister, Shrewpaw. Shrewpaw didn't pay too much attention to Bramblekit and Rainkit; she was very focused on becoming a great warrior, though when she did see them she was polite, not very open with them, but polite.

"Hey Shrewpaw!" Bramblekit called over to her.

Shrewpaw turned her head to look at the younger tom, her eyes fixating on him. She twitched her ears passively as she strode over. "Hi Bramblekit," she greeted, dipping her head as she reached him.

Bramblekit pushed the mouse towards her. He was full, and didn't want the mouse to go to waste. "Do you want the rest?" he asked.

Shrewpaw looked at it for a heartbeat, but then shook her head. "I would but I can't, have to go hunting first." She excused herself. "You could see if Rainkit wanted the rest. She's looking a bit thin…" Her eyes drifted off to the gray tabby she-cat. "But then again, aren't we all?"

Bramblekit's fur prickled out in worry at the mention of his sister. "When are Heatherstar and Mousefall getting up to assign patrols?" he asked.

Shrewpaw turned her head towards the warrior's den. "There's my mother now." She murmured as the lithe brown she-cat padded out and gave a long stretch. "I'd better go talk to her." Shrewpaw mewed. "See you Bramblekit."

"Bye,"

Shrewpaw turned and padded energetically over to Mousefall. Bramblekit turned away from her and back towards Rainkit and Aspenkit. He bent over to pick up the mouse in his jaws and then pad over to the two she-cats.

"Rainkit," He dropped the half-eaten mouse at his paws when reached her. "Do you want the rest of this mouse?"

Rainkit halted from her play, a whisker-length away from pouncing on Aspenkit. Aspenkit raised her small silver head to look over at Bramblekit, her eyes narrowing when she saw him.

"I was just about to defeat Adderstar Bramblekit!" She mewled, but trotted over to her brother.

Slight envy prickled at his pelt. He quickly pushed it away. His sister sure did make a new friend very easily; perhaps she didn't need him too much after all. "Do you want to eat the rest of this mouse?" He asked.

Rainkit bowed her head. "Sure." She meowed quietly. "I am hungry…" she bent over to take a small bite out of it. Bramblekit noticed her eyes flashed when she realized how stale it was, but of course his sister didn't say anything but continue to eat gratefully.

Aspenkit sat down for a moment beside her, shuffling her paws. "I'd better get back to the nursery and see if Willowbreath, Boulderkit, or Cloudkit are awake yet." She excused herself, turning away to trot towards the nursery. "Bye Rainkit!" she called.

"Bye…" Rainkit grumbled. She looked up at her brother. "So… what do you think of Aspenkit?" she asked.

Bramblekit frowned. "I don't trust her."

Rainkit sighed. "You don't trust anyone though."

"With a few exceptions." Bramblekit agreed. "But honestly, it's extremely hard for me to trust the littermate of my enemy."

"We're kits… we shouldn't have enemies…" Rainkit meowed quietly.

"Well I suppose StarClan intended that we don't be kits then."

"Bramblekit, sometimes you think too much." Rainkit sighed.

"Whatever." Bramblekit grumbled as Rainkit finished up the mouse.

"I'm still hungry." She mewed.

Bramblekit cringed when he looked at his sister. Noticing that her ribs were jutting out of her body. He pressed his muzzle against her. "Don't worry, a hunting patrol just went out, we'll have more food in no time."

Rainkit gave him a weak smile. "I think we'd better go and check in on the nursery too." She mewed.

Bramblekit nodded. "Sure." He ran to the nursery, a rhythm in his step with Rainkit closely behind him. When he reached it, he shook his pelt to release himself of snow before stepping inside the warmer enclosure.

"Hello Bramblekit, Rainkit." Echopool was awake, lying on her side with Goldwhisker pressing a paw against her stomach, the medicine cat's head tilted with thought.

"You're a very healthy queen." The golden tabby meowed. "I think you'll give birth to several kits not long from now."

Echopool smiled and nodded her silver head. "Okay, thank you Goldwhisker." She got to her paws as Goldwhisker left. Bramblekit padded over to her with Rainkit beside him. He cast a sideways glance at Willowbreath's corner of the nursery; her kits were huddled around her. Except for Boulderkit. The dark gray tom was watching Bramblekit, his eyes glinting darkly.

Bramblekit felt his fur go on end with Boulderkit watching him, and tried to push the feeling away. Echopool gave each kit a lick on the head in greeting. "How are you two this morning?" she asked.

Rainkit smiled. "Good." She purred.

Bramblekit simply nodded in agreement. "I need to go make dirt now though." He mumbled, shuffling paws with fake embarrassment.

Echopool purred with amusement. "Okay, well you know where to do it I certainly hope."

"Yes…" Bramblekit turned away to hurry out of the nursery, conscious of Boulderkit following him from a ways behind. He exited the nursery and rounded the corner, his fur on edge. Soon, as he expected, Boulderkit's smug gray face appeared.

"What do you want?" Bramblekit demanded.

"Quick to fight are we?" Boulderkit tilted his head.

Bramblekit hissed. "Just spit it out Boulderkit."

"You're going to be nothing anymore."

"What?"

"To Echopool, I mean. When her kits show up you're out of the way." Boulderkit meowed with a smirk.

"Echopool loves up more than your own mother will ever love you." Bramblekit growled.

Boulderkit laughed. "Think about it Bramblekit, when it comes to choosing between a bunch of filthy rogues or your own kin, which do most choose? Which do you choose? Because I'm sure that answer will be the same as all other cats out there."

Bramblekit remained silent, drawing his lips back into a snarl. Boulderkit smiled.

"Yes Bramblekit, it is, and always will be chosen, as kin."


	4. Chapter 3

** Woo! Summer's here! I surprisingly have been busy, I started writing a new story (Not on FF), and I'm starting to ride my new horse a lot too! :) He's one generation removed from the wild, his dad was a mustang and he's a wonderful horse! *Sigh* I love horses… and dogs… and cats… well… I'm a bit of an animal person huh? So anyways, about the story, sorry this is late; I don't have any good excuses. This chapter is a bit of character building, more so for Aspenkit this time though. Thanks for reviewing!**

**Stunningfire:**** Thanks! He is doing a lot better now :) I still can't help but worry though… Hehe I think Rainkit is kind of adorable myself… and I wrote her… hm… Haha, thanks for reviewing!**

**DahliaStarr:**** Oh yes, Boulderkit… *Shudder shudder*. And it's alright if you use that name, I don't own it. :) Thanks for reviewing!**

**Starbomb:**** Yep! Thanks for reviewing! :) And yeah, they do talk like adults, what Echopool was hinting at when she talked to Bramblekit "You're a kit! You shouldn't be like this!" Etc, etc. **

**xXLunarCharmXx:**** Haha suspense already! Thanks for reviewing! :)**

**Foxbracken:**** Ah, the feeling is mutual on Boulderkit. And yes, there is quite a bit to Aspenkit… Thanks for reviewing! :)**

**Sunleaf13:**** Hello! :) Oh yes, Bramblekit is similar to Rosestar, guess I just have a knack for writing short-tempered kitties. And yes, that would be quite weird wouldn't it XD, and who do you think the ShadowClan apprentice who would suit Rainkit? Probably with who she is already being shipped with from other fans ;)**

**Pengirl:**** Thanks for reviewing! And don't worry; I'll keep updating your story! :)**

**Issy922:**** Hi there! Haha yes, they both have… violent tendencies. Thanks for reviewing!**

**Stormfeather of IceClan****: Very well said my friend :) Thanks for reviewing!**

**Galefire****: Hi! Yes, the kitties in ShadowClan seem to mature too quickly :) They grow up so fast *Sob sob* Thanks for reviewing! **

**Hi10000000****: Haha did I get enough 0's there? Thanks for reviewing!**

**Chapter 3**

The Gathering was an amazing thing in Bramblekit's eyes. Though he'd never been to one, he had seen the way that the tawny elder, Whitewind's eyes has lightened up when she told the kits about her visits to the Gatherings. Bramblekit longed to go.

There, perhaps no cat would judge him as harshly as they did now, as long as Heatherstar kept her mouth shut about it, he could meet the other cats of the Clans. How different their lives must be compared to that of one in ShadowClan.

Bramblekit had seen a full moon before, but Rowanflower, another ShadowClan elder, had mentioned that the full moon seemed to shine brighter, glow with light when you were at the Island. Then the moonlight would shine down on the cats below, turning their pelt color silver. The cats would mingle and chat like old friends until their leaders would call to speak and announce news.

Bramblekit was _desperate _to go. And the idea had been nagging at him more and more since Hawkpaw's warning of his and Rainkit's banishment. That would mean that he'd _never _get to go to a Gathering. He twitched his tail with anticipation. Perhaps there would be a chance for him to go; maybe if he was to sneak beside his Clan without them knowing, and they could lead him to the Gathering.

_That's a great idea! _He admired his idea. He peered over to Rainkit who sat beside him, nibbling on a scrawny frog. Would she come with him if he proposed the idea to her? _Probably not… but I still would like her to come, I want to keep a constant eye on her. _

He looked back to Rainkit again; her long gray fur was covered in snow as it fell heavily from the sky. He kept his pelt pressed against hers to conserve the heat, so he couldn't leave now to speak with Aspenkit, Rainkit would get too cold. He kept his short brown fur brushing against hers until she lifted her head up from her frog; her blue eyes were slightly drifted.

"I'm finished." She said quietly, rising to her paws. "Let's head back to the nursery, it's freezing out here." She grumbled.

Bramblekit nodded, sneezing as a snowflake landed on his nose. "But first, I need to ask you something." He spoke up. Rainkit tilted her head as she turned to face him, but flicked her tail to signal for him to go on. "So… I want to go to the Gathering tonight." His eyes shone once more.

Rainkit's eyes widened. "Bramblekit, are you crazy?" she said in a quiet voice. "It's cold out here, you could freeze to death!"

Bramblekit nodded glumly. "Yeah, it's very cold." He agreed, slightly hurt that Rainkit didn't want to accompany him. _I'll just go by myself… _He thought.

Bramblekit could see how packed the nursery way getting now, with everybody crammed into it. ShadowClan's nursery wasn't very large to start with anyways, but now they had Willowbreath and her three kits, and Echopool and her round belly full of new kits to come, plus Rainkit and himself who were growing rapidly with their age.

Echopool was grooming her fur near the back, where Willowbreath, Aspenkit, Boulderkit, and Cloudkit were hunched beside her. The two queens had set aside their disputes with the freezing air taking away their spirits. Bramblekit bounded over to join Echopool, with Rainkit beside him. Echopool smiled as she saw them.

"Hello." She purred, leaning down to give each of them a lick on the forehead.

"Hi." Bramblekit rumbled.

"A horrible night for a Gathering, isn't it?" Willowbreath spoke up, her comment directed towards no one in particular.

Boulderkit nodded in agreement with his mother. "There's horrible weather outside."

"We'll be heading out for the Gathering soon." Echopool kept up a conversation. "I wonder who Heatherstar will decide to bring."

"Probably the stronger warriors." Aspenkit joined in. "It shows that ShadowClan is doing well through leaf-bare, though in honesty, we aren't."

Echopool glanced down at Aspenkit, a look of surprise on her face. _Even though I don't like Aspenkit that much, I have to admit, she is pretty wise. _Bramblekit thought.

He perked his brown striped ears as he heard a call ring out. He recognized the voice of it to be Mousefall, the deputy, probably announcing who would be coming to the Gathering. Bramblekit looked back at Echopool. "Can I go watch? I'd like to know who is going." He meowed.

Echopool nodded. "Yes, but come back right away."

_I'll have to think of another way to get out of camp. _Bramblekit reasoned, getting to his feet to trot out of the nursery, immediately met by a gust of cold wind along with a bundle of snow barraging against him. He raised a paw to rub it over his face for clearer vision.

He spotted Mousefall quickly, sitting calmly by the leader's den as her Clanmates gathered around to hear who would be going to represent ShadowClan.

"Blackstorm, Runningdust, Heavyfang, Dustpaw, and Shrewpaw will be joining Heatherstar, Goldwhisker, Hawkpaw, and me at the Gathering." She announced. Murmurs rose through the Clan as some trudged off to their dens and some stayed by Mousefall.

_She'll make a good leader one day. _Bramblekit admired the ShadowClan deputy. Mousefall sat high, though not too cockily. Her eyes showed leadership and wisdom, but compassion and kindness.

"We'll head out now." Mousefall meowed.

_Fox-dung! I've got to get going. _Bramblekit spurred around and raced back into the nursery, shaking his pelt in attempt to shed the layer of snow on him. He bounded over to Echopool, who was now curled around Rainkit, her eyes shut. She slowly opened them when she saw Bramblekit coming.

"Hello." She whispered. "Are they leaving for the Gathering?"

Bramblekit nodded. "Can I go use the dirt-place?" he asked.

"Of course." Echopool murmured, lowering her head back onto her paws.

Bramblekit turned back, padding out of the nursery in time to see his Clanmates disappearing from camp. He inhaled sharply. _I'm going to have to keep up and keep quiet. _He thought, taking off after them immediately.

He slipped out of camp unnoticed as the rest of Clanmates were tucked away in their nests. Bramblekit looked around, not taking time to admire the scenery. He quickly caught sight of the group of cats and started after them.

_I'm glad there isn't much undergrowth in ShadowClan territory. _He thought. _That would make it a lot more difficult to keep up. _He was still having a tough time, the cats ahead of him moved fast, easily gliding past the trees whereas Bramblekit was gasping for more breath. He was far enough away from them for them not to hear him, and the wind was buffeting his fur back, bringing their scent to him instead of the other way around.

"Gotcha!"

Bramblekit gasped as sudden pain flashed through his tail as it was pinned to the ground. He whipped around; unsheathing his claws and drawing his lips back to show his small white teeth at his attacker.

He was met by the innocent gaze of Aspenkit looking at him, her paw pressed promptly against his tail tip. "Calm down there Bramblekit, it's just me." She mewed.

Bramblekit wriggled his tail free of Aspenkit's grasp to wrap it around his paws. "What… What are you doing here?" he hissed, his mind swimming.

Aspenkit lifted her paw up to give it a slow lick. "I had my suspicions that you weren't just going to the dirt-place so I followed you." She meowed. "I can't believe you didn't notice me. I was making as much noise as a one-legged badger but you were too focused in following the patrol for you to bother looking behind you."

Embarrassment flushed through Bramblekit. "Whatever." He growled. "Just go back."

"Go back? No way! I'm coming with you."

Bramblekit twitched his tail tip irritably. "Just go back!" he didn't want to hurt the silver kit, she was his sister's friend.

"Make me." Aspenkit snapped back, her eyes starting to glow with matching anger.

Bramblekit sighed, letting the tension in his shoulders relax. "Fine." He agreed. "But we've got to hurry, I'm not waiting for you, I've wanted to see a Gathering for the longest time."

"Same here." Aspenkit mewed.

Bramblekit turned away from her, picking up the pace into a sprint, finding it easy to evade the trees that were large enough for him to weave around. He could hear Aspenkit's short breath behind him.

He peered ahead. No sign of ShadowClan. "Fox-dung." He cursed. "We lost them."

"Just keep going, you can pick up their scent if you really try." Aspenkit meowed.

Bramblekit parted his jaws to take in the many smells of the forest. He set aside the faint scent of prey and the strong smell of pine trees until he reached the vanishing scent of ShadowClan. "You're right." He meowed. "It's this way."

He took off at a sprint with Aspenkit struggling to keep up with him. The gray she-cat was one moon younger than him, but when you were a kit that one moon difference meant quite a bit. "Just keep going." He murmured. "They say that when you get down to the lake you'll be able to spot the island, and then we just go around by the lakeside until we reach the log that leads to the Island."

"But won't they be able to see us coming across the log? They'd recognize us as ShadowClan kits immediately." Aspenkit added.

"Good point." Bramblekit agreed. Maybe Aspenkit wasn't so bad after all. "But what's our alternative?"

"Hopefully by the time that we arrive the cats will be sharing tongues and won't notice us go across." Aspenkit mewed.

Bramblekit nodded. "I guess we will have to hope."

It was quite obvious to Bramblekit when they reached the lake. He'd heard cat's describing the massive amount of water that shimmered with the moon's reflection; there was no doubt for Bramblekit that this was the lake.

"Okay." He meowed to Aspenkit. "Even though we've lost ShadowClan's trail through the snow, we got to the lake now, so all we have to do is go around it." He meowed. He squinted his eyes to look across the lake to see the faded shape of what he guessed was the island on the horizon.

"It's freezing out." Aspenkit commented as they headed along the lake.

Bramblekit nodded. "I'm exhausted too." He added heaving a sigh. "Just wait until we're apprentices, they'll envy how muscular we are."

Aspenkit let out a purr of amusement. "From one outing? We're just starving ourselves even more."

Bramblekit frowned, ignoring the growing irritation of his hunger. "It's worth it though." He mumbled. _At least I hope. _

"We haven't even thought about the way back though." Aspenkit meowed, tilting her head with thought.

Bramblekit sighed. "Well… we'll make it anyways, nobody is going to worry about us, they'll all be asleep." He reasoned.

Aspenkit offered him a pained look. "Alright." She murmured. "Let's keep going." She dragged her tail across his spine as she picked up the pace. "I hope they don't start until we get there."

"Well they aren't waiting for us." Bramblekit grumbled. He picked his head back up to stop looking at his paws. "Hey look! There's the log!" he exclaimed, seeing the fallen tree that stretched from land to land.

"Wow!" Aspenkit breathed. She then scrunched up her eyes. "It looks slippery though." She murmured.

The two kits approached the log quickly; Bramblekit stepped forward towards it before looking across at the Island. "You're right." He whispered. "The other cats are too absorbed in their conversations to pay attention to us."

"You can go first." Aspenkit suggested her eyes wide.

"Actually, I think it'd be better for you to go first," Bramblekit argued, thinking.

"No thanks!" Aspenkit squeaked.

"Look, Aspenkit, I'm the bigger of the two of us, so if you go first and slip then I can grab you and pull you back on from here." Bramblekit reasoned.

"But what if you fall in?" Aspenkit asked.

"I'll just be extra careful." Bramblekit murmured. "Now go ahead." He motioned with his head.

Aspenkit nodded, her whiskers twitching. She held her breath as she stepped onto the snow-covered log and began to step across it very carefully, barely visible with her silver pelt in the midst of the snow storm. Bramblekit watched her carefully as she went by. It seemed like ages before she made it across to turn around and nod at him, signaling his time to come across.

Bramblekit took a deep breath, shaking his pelt to rid it of the fallen snow before stepping onto the log. His paw nearly swept him away with the first step, his eyes widened, surprised at how slick it was. He extracted his claws to help him stay on the log and began to slowly walk across. He made it to the mid-point went it went wrong. His foot slid, making him loose balance. He parted his jaws in terror but made no sound as he plummeted into the icy water.


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

The icy water quickly took its toll on Bramblekit. The light brown tabby sank fast in the unforgiving frosty lake. His fur fluffed out uselessly and his legs flailed in the water, struggling to reach the surface for breath. He was dying. He knew it when he felt himself being lifted; he was being lead to StarClan.

_No! _He scrambled fiercely. _I'm not ready to die yet! I have to take care of Rainkit! _He continued to wriggle, trying to free StarClan's grasp on him.

"Hold still you mouse-brain!"

A familiar voice hissed in his ears. Bramblekit blinked his eyes, inhaling fresh air. He twisted his head around to see a silver face with a blank expression. "Aspenkit?" Bramblekit whispered.

"Yes! Now shut up unless you want to be caught!"

It snapped back to Bramblekit on what was going on, what he was doing. _The Gathering! _As soon as he felt himself being dragged against the land, he scrambled to his paws. "Quick, in here!" He said quietly to Aspenkit, not taking time to admire the Island. He led her into a bush on the shoreline, squeezing in tightly.

"You couldn't have picked a more comfortable place?" Aspenkit blinked her kitten-blue eyes at him.

Bramblekit shrugged. "This was the only thing that came to mind, I don't want us to be found out." He wheezed for a heartbeat.

Aspenkit's eyes widened at him. "Are you okay Bramblekit? You must be freezing."

Bramblekit frowned. He hadn't really had time to react to his tumble into the lake, but his senses were catching up with him. His fur was soaked and freezing with the cool night air. "I'm fine." He murmured. "Did any of the cats react to the sound of me falling in the water?" he asked. Aspenkit was watching him, her eyes unemotional. She pressed her pelt against his which brought warmth through his body. "Thanks." He murmured.

"Don't mention it." Aspenkit meowed. "You're going to make me freezing soon enough too." She said. "And no, the Clans didn't notice, they probably just thought it was a fish jumping in the lake." She informed. A loud yowl stole Bramblekit's attention. He snapped his head in direction of the large trees where leaders sat on branches.

He recognized Heatherstar's blue-gray pelt as she sat on one branch, her head rose proudly and her fur sleeked down as much as it could be. Beneath her on a stump was Mousefall, her eyes holding a sense of calmness. Bramblekit's eyes drifted over to the cat on the branch next to her. A dark gray ragged tom with large muscles underneath his fur. To Heatherstar's other side was the famous Rosestar.

Bramblekit had heard several stories about her on how she had stopped the tyrannous WindClan leader, Adderstar. Rosestar sat with dignity, but not cockiness. She had large light blue eyes that held wisdom beyond her age. She had long fur that was well groomed and a dark cream color. Her large fluming tail was a reddish color, along with her paws, ears, and muzzle. She was the leader of ThunderClan.

To her left was a long-haired ginger and white tom. Though, through his long fur you could see his ribs. He was quite skinny, though built to be very lengthy. Bramblekit guessed that this was Burningstar, a companion of Rosestar, and leader of WindClan. That meant that the dark gray tom next to Heatherstar had to be the leader of RiverClan.

"Wow…" Aspenkit whispered, her eyes misted over. "I can't believe we are seeing this." She murmured.

"No kidding." Bramblekit mumbled in response, sneezing once more as the cats quieted down for their leaders. "How did you pull me out of the water?" He asked, curiosity nagging at him.

"I managed to grab you before you could soak up too much water in your fur and before you sank too far; I'm stronger than I look." He meowed, twitching her whiskers with amusement.

Bramblekit put on a smile, suffering another wheeze. "Good." He mewed.

"Now shush, the Gathering is starting." Aspenkit swung her tail to Bramblekit's open jaw as Rosestar addressed the Clans.

"Welcome to the Gathering, cats of all Clans. I will start the Gathering if that is okay?" she exchanged glances with the other leaders who nodded respectfully in response. "Okay," Rosestar stood up, her eyes clear and her tail draping off of the slim branch.

"ThunderClan is managing to do well this leaf-bare, our kits are healthy and we even have a new warrior." She smiled and looked down towards her Clan. Bramblekit couldn't tell yet who she'd pinpointed. "We welcome you Silverdapple." Cheers rose up through the Clans, evidently Silverdapple was quite popular.

"We also welcome Goldenpaw to his first Gathering. I took it up to mentor him myself." Rosestar grinned again. Bramblekit noticed a stocky golden tabby tom sitting down next to a few RiverClan cats, his head lowered bashfully though a smile of delight on his face. Rosestar then nodded to Burningstar to take his turn next.

"WindClan has been taking this leaf-bare hard." Burningstar began. "With only three normal warriors who stayed loyal to WindClan, and one new apprentice, we are suffering slightly. Though Rushfall's large litter will soon be apprenticed and we'll get back in our system again." The ginger and white tom announced. Bramblekit admired his honesty. "Boulderstar, would you like to go next?" he looked to the RiverClan tom.

"I'd be delighted to." Boulderstar said calmly. His eyes then scanned the Clans. "RiverClan's fish supply has been running well this leaf-bare." He meowed. "Twistwind has entered the nursery expecting Beetleclaw's kits." Murmurs of congratulations lifted through the Clans. "Birchfrost has also retired to the elder's den."

Bramblekit was surprised at how casual conversations were with the Clans. So far, nobody seemed too hostile, even in the thick of leaf-bare. Bramblekit sneezed again, his nose beginning to run. He felt Aspenkit bump into him.

"You okay?" She asked.

Bramblekit nodded, suffering through another sneeze. "I'm fine." He said choppily.

Heatherstar began to speak next. "ShadowClan is doing marvelous this leaf-bare." She announced, raising her head proudly.

_Filthy liar. _Bramblekit glared at his leader. He knew that his sister was slowly starving from lack of prey, why couldn't Heatherstar at least be honest? All of the bordering Clans appeared in fine health, why would they attack? Heatherstar was worrying far too much in this matter. Bramblekit noticed Rosestar's nose scrunch up. _She knows Heatherstar's lying. _He realized.

"We don't have any news to report." Heatherstar added. "We are doing perfectly fine." Bramblekit sneezed again and began to quiver. Maybe falling into the freezing water was taking its toll on him now.

"Are you going to be able to walk back?" Aspenkit asked him.

Bramblekit nodded, giving his chest fur a lick. "I told you, I'll be fine." He meowed hastily.

"No you're not."

"What?"

"You're not okay Bramblekit, you're sick." Aspenkit concluded, giving him a frosty stare.

"I can still make it back home." Bramblekit scoffed, struggling not to show his legs shaking beneath him.

Aspenkit frowned. "No." She meowed shortly. "I need to tell somebody, you're sick already, you'd be crowfood trying to walk back to camp in your condition! I'll tell Mousefall." She saw, wrapping her tail around her paws defensively.

"No!" Bramblekit's heart beat quicker with fear of being found out. "She'd tell Heatherstar! And then she'd surely kick Rainkit and me out of the Clan!"

"Don't worry Bramblekit; I'll just go to Hawkpaw." Aspenkit decided. "The medicine cats are allowed to lag behind, she can carry you back." She insisted.

Bramblekit sneezed with a prominent frown. "Fine." He scowled. "But if anything happens to Rainkit, I'm blaming you."

That seemed to hit Aspenkit in a soft spot, as her green eyes flashed; momentarily concerned, before snapping to seem to burn with anger. "And if you freeze to death on the way back to camp and Rainkit asks what has happened to you, I'll tell her that you were too choked on pride than to worry about the other problems you were faced with." Aspenkit spat.

Bramblekit's ears flew back defensively and he showed his small white fangs to her. Aspenkit's eyes were still burning as she whipped around and vanished from the bush. Bramblekit snorted. _As ignorant as her mother. _But fear still managed to shake inside of him. Maybe this was a lose-lose situation. Surely, if he were to try and walk back to camp in his condition, he would not make it. But letting a cat of such high importance, Hawkpaw, know that they snuck into the Gathering would not be good for his chances of staying in ShadowClan.

The light brown tabby just watched as Aspenkit appeared in front of Hawkpaw, who gaped in response at surprise of her appearance, her expression a mixture of disappointment and concern. Nonmoving, Bramblekit waited for Aspenkit to explain to the medicine cat apprentice what was happening and then glance back towards the bush where Bramblekit hid.

With a shaky breath, Bramblekit got up and slinked out of the darkness where he was safe. Hawkpaw's eyes lifted to gaze at him, now expressionless. Bramblekit padded out to sit beside Aspenkit and before the apprentice. "I'm going to have to tell Heatherstar." Hawkpaw meowed, fear stabbed inside of Bramblekit as he whipped his head to glare at Aspenkit, anger filling inside of him.

"Why?" he growled at the medicine cat, the fur on the back of his neck rising.

"You don't expect me to carry two kits back to camp without being noticed, do you?" Hawkpaw countered.

"Well can't you get somebody else to help you? Heatherstar could banish me from the Clan!" Bramblekit protested.

Hawkpaw shook her head. "Sorry kit, but in your condition you wouldn't make it back to camp by yourself… so the ultimate question right now, is do you want to live or do you want to die?"

"Live I guess." Bramblekit mumbled, his head lowering with anger, embarrassment, and worry. He hated losing to an argument.

"Then come with me to Goldwhisker, Mousefall and Heatherstar." Hawkpaw ordered, standing up to lead the way to the ShadowClan cats sitting together and mumbling in low voices, their eyes shifting around.

_Why would they choose to discuss matters at a Gathering where everybody can hear them? _Bramblekit wondered, but remained silent as he followed Hawkpaw with Aspenkit trailing behind him.

"Heatherstar." Hawkpaw meowed, her voice interrupting the cats' discussion.

"What?" Heatherstar snapped, her head bouncing up. Immediately, her eyes fixed on Bramblekit and the hope that lingered in his chest dropped when the ShadowClan leader let out a furious hiss. "What is he doing here!" she snarled. Bramblekit didn't speak, only returned the hatred glaring in Heatherstar's eyes.

"He and Aspenkit followed us to the Gathering and now they are sick and can't return by themselves." Hawkpaw answered simply, her eyes calm.

Heatherstar's nostrils flared. "It's as if you're trying to get on my bad side!" She snarled, glaring at Bramblekit in particular. Bramblekit held her gaze, finding some kind of confidence buried inside of him, only ruined by a short sneeze. "I really should leave you here to pay for your mistake." She hissed.

"Enough!"

Bramblekit snapped his head to his left to see the lithe form of Rosestar, her icy blue eyes burning like fire as she glared at the ShadowClan leader. "You cannot talk to a kit that has made _one _mistake like that." Rosestar continued, not dropping her gaze when Heatherstar's changed to meet it.

"Rosestar! This does not concern you!" Heatherstar sneered, her eyes slitting.

"That's up for me to decide." Rosestar replied shortly, dropping her gaze down to Bramblekit. The pale brown tabby raised his head to look at her, sniffing his nose to try and appear stronger than he really was.

"You have to take him back Heatherstar." Aspenkit mewed. "If he doesn't go, then I don't go, and then you've lost two good future warriors."

"And two more mouths to feed." Heatherstar grumbled.

"And you'll use all respect in your Clan, if you haven't already." Rosestar meowed, looking back to the ShadowClan leader.

"Fine." Heatherstar snapped, lunging forward to snatch Bramblekit's scruff in her jaws, resulting in him swinging back towards her. "Don't interfere with my business in the future." She mumbled intimidating best that she could to Rosestar before stalking away.

_It's going to be a shameful ride back to camp. _Bramblekit thought miserably

**Wow… so… it's been a long while… I'm sorry you guys… I'm horrible at updating. This is the reason why, now that when I plan a story I'll finish it before I start posting it so that I don't disappoint you. Please review, I understand if you don't want to though.**


	6. Chapter 5

** Earlier this time! Hooray! I had completely spaced what to write because of the HUGE gap between Chapter 3 and Chapter 4, fortunately I had written out the plan for **_**Tangled on Secrets, **_**so I just checked that and then knew what to write! At the moment I have plans up to Chapter 16, while I know what'll happen after that, I just haven't documented it yet, this came out fairly well though! I think anyways… sorry I haven't been doing review answers, just now that I appreciate your reviews So much! Don't forget that! By the way, important question here: Can anyone tell me in what chapter of Roses in the Dark that Rosestar became a warrior? I would look myself but unfortunately I have a severe case of being lazy… Jeez I know how to babble on and on don't I? Well anyways, here's the next chapter! Thank you for reviewing!**

** Oh and by the way… for the person who signed in as ****Guest, ****this story **_**will **_**tie in with the characters and plot from **_**Roses in the Dark. **_** They aren't just two loner kits… give me a break, it's only chapter 5, I have many many more chapters to go. So hang in there with me if you have that patience, if not, then I suppose that's too bad.**

**Chapter 5**

"I still can't believe that you did that."

Bramblekit sighed as he looked over at Rainkit, who sat in the warm spot of the nursery, her long silver fur fluffed out. Her blue eyes were hard, Bramblekit was surprised that his sister had been so stern with him on this subject.

"What were you thinking? You could have gotten us kicked out of ShadowClan! In fact, you probably still could." Bramblekit could hear a whine rising in Rainkit's voice. "How would we survive by ourselves in this kind of weather? You've heard what Echopool said, it's the worst leaf-bare the Clans have seen in uncountable moons! There's no way we'd live."

Bramblekit grimaced at her words. He couldn't let that happen. He had to keep his sister safe. "We would go to a different Clan for shelter." He answered. "They're not allowed to neglect a kit in danger, its part of the warrior code." He meowed, feeling more confidence in himself as he devised something to do if worst came to worst.

"Clans do ignore the warrior code, especially if they're under management of a cold-hearted leader, such as Heatherstar. Dustpaw has told us how Heatherstar nearly wouldn't allow us when we were newly-born into ShadowClan." Rainkit mewed.

"The other leaders aren't like that." Bramblekit meowed dryly. "I'd advise that we go to ThunderClan… Rosestar was very nice, and she appeared to be in fairly good health as well."

"Hm," was Rainkit's only response. Bramblekit let out his breath in relief. Maybe she was done pounding him for leaving with Aspenkit to the Gathering? "I still can't believe that you left. Look at what in horrible health you are."

Bramblekit sniffed his nose, trying to clear any evidence of his cold. "I'm fine." He meowed. "It's Cloudkit you should be worrying about." He said in a quieter voice.

Rainkit's eyes hollowed as they darted away from Bramblekit and to where Willowbreath's gray body was curled. "He'll be fine." She meowed airily.

Bramblekit grimaced, mentally scolding himself for bringing up this subject. Cloudkit, the smaller brother of Boulderkit and Aspenkit had recently come up with a horrible cold, suffering from the freezing temperatures. Even though Bramblekit thought that Willowbreath was a terrible cat, she was a good mother.

All day she spent wrapped around Cloudkit, trying to warm him up, eating in the nursery and refusing to leave her spot. At night she stayed with him as well, not having room for Aspenkit and Boulderkit, they would stay with Echopool while Bramblekit and Rainkit, being the oldest, would curl up together to keep warm.

Bramblekit didn't comment on Rainkit's confidence in the little tom. He knew that he wasn't going to survive, and it wasn't something that he would be able to change. While he'd like to do something for Cloudkit, nothing that he did would help him. His only chance was Willowbreath, and even she couldn't give the amount of care that Cloudkit needed to survive.

Bramblekit twitched his tail. He needed to change the subject. "Where did Echopool go?" he asked, knowing that she wasn't in the nursery at the moment.

"I think that she and Runningdust went for a walk or something." Rainkit replied. "She was talking about how she needed to get some fresh air." She meowed. "More like frozen air to me though." She added with a shudder.

Bramblekit gave her a weak smile. "Where are Aspenkit and Boulderkit?"

"They're out playing together." Rainkit answered. "Aspenkit said that even though _we _hate Boulderkit, that he's still her brother and they need to get along."

_She has a point._ Bramblekit reluctantly thought. "How do you know everything that's going on in camp?" he asked his sister.

Rainkit shuffled her paws. "I like to keep up." She answered choppily. Bramblekit smiled at her, sitting down and wrapping his tail around his paws. Rainkit had opened up a tiny bit to others since she and Aspenkit became friends, it helped her along well.

"Hey," Bramblekit looked up to see the small pale gray form of Aspenkit at the entrance to the nursery. Her fur was coated in snow and clung onto her whiskers, though her eyes were bright as usual. She padded up to the littermates, lifting her paw up to give it a lick to wipe it over her face and clear it of snow. "That stuff just keeps comin' down!" She said with a purr.

"No kidding." Bramblekit agreed. "The snow stands taller than I do."

He noticed Aspenkit twitch her whiskers in amusement, but she looked away as Rainkit spoke. "Where's Boulderkit?" The long-furred kit asked.

"He went to go make dirt." Aspenkit replied, scrunching up her nose.

"Oh," Rainkit replied dryly. "How's the weather out there? I'm in the warmest place in camp and _I'm _freezing cold!"

Bramblekit smiled at his sister. Aspenkit grinned as well. "It's… very chilly, a kit my age probably shouldn't be out there… but Willowbreath is so preoccupied with Cloudkit that she doesn't check up on us, and it's not like Blackstorm will either." She meowed, speaking of her father.

Bramblekit felt a stab of pity inside of him. Aspenkit was losing a littermate, he couldn't begin to imagine the pain that he'd suffer through if he lost Rainkit, but, then again, he'd make sure that nothing would _ever _harm his sister. "I'm sorry," he managed to mumble out to the pale gray she-cat, but that only made her stiffen.

"You know he's _not _dead." She hissed, but it was easy detectable that sadness clung inside of it. "Yet," She added in a barely audible voice.

Bramblekit unsheathed his claws to allow them to knead the hard ground below. If she wasn't willing to accept his sympathy, then he wouldn't offer it to her. Fortunately, Rainkit didn't pick up on the tension between the two and only gave a sad smile in Aspenkit's direction.

Bramblekit sighed, grudgingly allowing himself to relax a little. He twitched his ears when he heard the very quiet sound of fur slipping against a stone. Somebody was arriving in camp, maybe it was Echopool and Runningdust? He set off at a brisk trot to the exit of the nursery and peeked his head around the corner.

Standing by that large border that marked the only way in and out of camp, was Dustpaw. The brown tabby's eyes were wide and his sides were growing and shrinking quickly. His eyes darted to the leader's den and without another word, he vanished inside. Bramblekit blinked, shedding snow from his eyelashes. Curious, he ran across the empty camp and to the sheltered area, putting an ear against the side, he attempted to listen in.

"Heatherstar!" He heard Dustpaw cry.

"What is it?" Heatherstar snapped. "You came in abruptly, I was catching up on my sleep; I've been up all night and day lately!"

"I… I heard screaming." That got Bramblekit's interest.

"Screaming?" Heatherstar questioned, clearly confused at Dustpaw's lack of description. "Go on then,"

"It… it sounded like a kit." Dustpaw sounded extremely nervous. "I was out hunting; it's all I ever do now really, since our Clan is so low on prey it's the most patrols that I go on, which makes me worry because to become a full warrior, I'll need to learn more fighting skills as well-

"Off subject Dustpaw!"

"Right… sorry, anyways, I was alone with just my mentor and me, so he sent me to come back for help while he looked for the kit." Dustpaw explained briefly. "Who can I grab here?"

"Take Mousefall and Heavyfang, they're all we have to spare at the moment." Heatherstar ordered.

"Yes Heatherstar," Dustpaw replied before he raced into Bramblekit's view. The brown apprentice skid off in direction of the warrior's den, only being inside for a few moments before dashing off again, Mousefall and Heavyfang flanking either side of him.

Without thinking, Bramblekit took off after them thrill of the chase snagging his interest, his small legs moving as quickly as they could as he breathed in the crisp and dry air. The trees weren't hard to dodge at all; he wasn't going fast enough to worry about having to go around them in and out. Sooner than he'd expected, the patrol of cats came to an abrupt halt, Bramblekit noticed their ears standing straighter up. Taking note, Bramblekit did the same, picking up the growing cries for help of a blood-curling familiar voice.

_Boulderkit!_

"Why it's that kit; Willowbreath's!" Heavyfang meowed, eyes widening.

"Yes, that and a dog." Mousefall snapped. "Follow that sound! A kit against a dog won't last long at all."

Immediately, the patrol took off with Bramblekit sprint after them the best way he could, the adrenaline from this exercise blinding him from the freezing temperatures. He only lagged behind slightly, not close enough to be in danger, but close enough to watch the scene unfold. A dog was standing before where Boulderkit hid inside a thickly tangled bush, lashing out a small paw at the beast every so often, but never managing to drive it off at all.

Instantly, ShadowClan sprang to the help. Bramblekit couldn't help but admire his Clan's fighting techniques and intelligence at the battle. Dustpaw drew the dog's attention away from the kit, taking little swipes at its legs until it turned its body towards the apprentice. That's when Heavyfang and Mousefall leapt in to really deal the damage.

A massacre of noise was made, and Bramblekit took it as an opportunity to slide in. He slipped over to the bush where Boulderkit hid, standing just outside of it, he found a small gap that he could look through with one eye closed. "Boulderkit?"

"Bramblekit! You flea-bitten mouse-brain! What are you doing here?" Boulderkit snarled.

Great StarClan that kit was aggressive. "I could ask you the same." Bramblekit replied, struggling to keep his tone down.

With a hissing fit, Boulderkit freed himself from the bush and stood out in the deep snow, his fur fluffed out twice his normal size and his claws unsheathed. "This is _my _battle Bramblekit! _My _glory!" his eyes were blazing.

"I can see that's going good for you." Bramblekit replied tautly.

Growling, Boulderkit crouched down low, his tail lashing furiously. "I said leave!"

Out of the corner of his eye, Bramblekit could see the fangs of the dog glinting in the sunlight. "Boulderkit! Watch out!" he yowled, springing forward and unsheathing his claws, like a flash of lightning Bramblekit struck at the dog, aiming for its eyes, not bothering the permanent damage he could do to it as his claw sliced against the liquid sphere.

The dog wailed, turning around, his tail tucked between his legs and the cheerful expression on his face replaced by one with fear. Pride filled the pale brown tabby; he turned his head to look at Boulderkit behind him, the younger tom's eyes filled with bewilderment, quickly replaced by anger.

"Look at you! Taking _my _spotlight again!" He snarled.

Bramblekit curled up his lip to reveal his sharp teeth to the gray tom. "_Your _spotlight? If I hadn't of interfered, you could be dead!" he hissed.

Boulderkit screeched, taking off for Bramblekit, his claws unsheathed as he tackled him. Bramblekit snarled, knocked to the ground by this sudden weight. He twisted as fresh scratches opened up against him.

"Stop this at once!"

Suddenly, Boulderkit was lifted off of him. Bramblekit jumped to his paws, cringing as blood trickled down his side. Boulderkit was hanging limply in Heatherstar's grasp, clearly realizing that if he got on his leader's bad side, he would deeply regret it.

"What do you kits think you're doing!" the harshness in Heatherstar's voice made him cower. "I should post-pone your apprentice ceremonies with behavior like this! You just wait until all of your Clanmates hear about this!"

For once, Bramblekit didn't try and protest.


	7. Chapter 6

** Hey! So if you haven't noticed yet, **_**Tangled in Secrets **_**will be updated every Friday, and my other story, I'm also in the process of writing two other multi-chapter stories that won't be posted until they've been completed. Anyways, I have also come to decide that there will not be a sequel to this story. Unless I get a new crazy idea, I am pretty content for the ending of this one. I am also going to have a contest; I want to have a name for this little two-book series, but I'm having difficulties deciding it… so, if you guys are willing to put up some ideas, I will pick which one I like the best, and the winner will be able to create-a-cat to be placed in my upcoming story, **_**Calling All.**_** I don't want it to be too long though, something that I can fit in with the summary maybe? I don't know, I'll figure it out. :-) Thanks! And enjoy this rather short installment! Thank you so much for all the reviews! I can't believe that I have so many at Chapter 6! A lot of hate-mail for Boulderkit too! Haha yikes! I'd hate to be him!**

**Chapter 6**

"It's really today isn't it?"

"Yes Echopool," Rainkit sat, her long fur cleansed and tamed to lie at her sides and her blue eyes were bright with excitement.

"I hope so," Bramblekit chipped in. Their Apprentice Ceremony was today, and Bramblekit was extremely nervous. Who knew if Heatherstar really _was _going to make him an apprentice? She hated him enough already, and a cat like her would willingly humiliate him in front of the whole Clan.

Echopool was nearly dancing on her paws with anxiety. "Oh what am I going to do without you two here? You'll be off in the Apprentice's Den leaving poor lonely me all by myself." She said with a sad smile.

"You're kits are coming soon aren't they?" Bramblekit asked.

"Goldwhisker said they could come any day now." Echopool confirmed, looking down at her swelled stomach. "I'm rather hoping that they'll come later this season, but it's not up for me to decide." She added with a sigh. "I'm just worried about their survival in this freezing weather."

"I'm sure they'll be fine with a good mother like you!" Rainkit enthused, her blue eyes lightening.

Echopool gave a vibrant smile. "Oh I'll miss you two! You take care of eachother you hear?"

"Echopool, we're moving out of the nursery, not out of the Clan." Bramblekit meowed with a grin.

"Stray hair!" Echopool alerted, dipping her head down to give Bramblekit a lick on his forehead. She sat back, her eyes scorching his appearance. Bramblekit rolled his eyes, his whiskers twitching with amusement. "Okay… you're good now." Echopool excused him.

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey, gather beneath the High-Branch for a Clan meeting!"

Heatherstar's voice sounded, and without another word, the trio of cats left the nursery and went outside. The snow was still high, like always, but for this occasion it seemed as though StarClan had stopped the downpour.

Bramblekit looked around at the gathering cats, catching the eye of Dustpaw watching him and his sister approach the skinny tree where Heatherstar was seated. Echopool herded Rainkit and Bramblekit towards the front of the group and sat down near her mate, Runningdust.

Despite knowing Echopool all of his life, Bramblekit was not too familiar with the lithe brown tabby tom. Runningdust didn't stop by too often, though Echopool explained quickly to the littermates that her mate was a very busy warrior. Bramblekit only believed half of that.

"Rainkit and Bramblekit, please step forward."

Heatherstar seemed to be speeding things up. Sharing a glance with his sister, Bramblekit took a few paw-steps forward and then waited for the blue-gray leader to leap down from her perch. She approached Bramblekit first, and despite her attempt to be friendly, he couldn't help but noticed a glint of resentment in her eye.

"Bramblekit, from this moment on until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Bramblepaw." The she-cat announced. A feeling of pride elapsed over Bramblepaw when he realized that she didn't hesitate to mention him earning his warrior name. He'd had his doubts. He looked over his shoulder at Echopool who was smiling ecstatically.

"Runningdust," A wave of shock washed over Bramblepaw. "You will mentor Bramblepaw. I hope that you will be able to shape him into the model warrior that you have become." Heatherstar meowed. Runningdust padded towards Bramblepaw who couldn't help but feel a little cocky for how big he was compared to his new mentor at only six moons old. They touched noses quickly before walking forward to sit beside eachother.

"Rainkit," Heatherstar continued as she side-stepped over to the Bramblepaw's sister. "From this moment on until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Rainpaw." Bramblepaw watched as Rainpaw gave a shy smile.

"Blackstorm,"

_StarClan no! _Bramblepaw's heart dropped in his chest as his eyes flitted over to the massive black tom who was walking forward now. _Heatherstar please! Anybody but him!_

"You will mentor Rainpaw."

Bramblepaw noticed his sister shrink back in terror. They'd heard some pretty bad stories of Blackstorm's mercilessness, and he would rather rot in the Dark Forest before he let anything bad happen to Rainpaw. He watched as she shrank away from Blackstorm's touch that remained in the same position, irritably awaiting her to meet him halfway. Bramblepaw watched as she eventually summoned up enough courage to touch his nose.

"Bramblepaw! Rainpaw! Bramblepaw! Rainpaw!" ShadowClan chanted. Bramblepaw sat, taking in the simple glory of becoming an apprentice. Boulderkit watched enviously at the border of the group, his mouth sealed shut, whereas his littermate, Aspenkit was happily calling along. There was only the two of them now- Cloudkit froze to death shortly after Boulderkit's escapade with the dog.

Bramblepaw watched as Heatherstar flicked her tail dismissively, signaling for the Clan to get back to their normal duties. Bramblepaw turned to face his mentor who was still holding a look of surprise on his face. "What are we doing first?" he asked, containing his excitement with ease.

"I was thinking that we could take Blackstorm, Rainpaw, and maybe a few others to go explore the whole territory," Runningdust meowed, flicking his gaze over to Blackstorm for approval.

_I'm his first apprentice. _Bramblepaw realized. _Blackstorm's had one before- in fact in think it was Echopool… maybe that's how she knew all those stories about him._

Blackstorm offered Runningdust a nod of the head. "Great," Bramblepaw's mentor meowed. "I'll go gather up one or two more free warriors and we'll head out." He vanished into the cats crowding around; they're voices gruff as they gossiped casually.

The trio of ShadowClan cats were only sitting silently, Bramblepaw was sharing glances with his sister as Blackstorm loomed over them, his head held high and his eyes unnerving. Bramblepaw shuffled his paws, anxiously awaiting his new mentor to return. The pale brown tabby was surprised that Heatherstar had chosen such a gentle instructor for him, he was sure that she would've picked someone to whip him into order, but then again Mousefall was probably involved in choosing mentors.

After what seemed to be a century, Runningdust was in sight, two cats trailing behind him, the Clan deputy and her son, Dustpaw. Feeling more relived for Rainpaw under Mousefall's watchful eye, Bramblepaw released a breath of contentment. Not that he wouldn't watch Rainpaw; if Blackstorm so much as spoke too roughly with her, he'd claw both his eyes out.

As Blackstorm lead the way, Rainpaw, Bramblepaw, and Dustpaw fell into step beside eachother. Bramblepaw could see his sister containing her excitement of leaving camp, her first time ever; he had to remind himself. They walked silently, following behind the warriors at a rather fast-paced walk. Bramblepaw had been in this area before; he could maneuver better than she could through the frozen roots.

As he hopped over one of the jutting roots easily with his size, he heard a squeal. Alarmed, he snapped his head back over his shoulder to see what had happened. Rainpaw was slumped on the snowy ground; he could detect the embarrassment waving off of her.

"Oops," She said softly. "I tripped." She rested her white chin on the frozen ground. Bramblepaw offered her a smile, stopping in his tracks to walk back over to assist her.

"What's the hold up!" a shout came from further up. Bramblepaw stopped twisting his head to look ahead and see the large structure of Blackstorm stalking back. Worry twisting in his heart, Bramblepaw quickly turned around to help the gray and white tabby.

"It's alright, I've got you." Bramblepaw stopped when he saw Dustpaw scoop up Rainpaw gently and land her on her feet. "Keep going." He called. "We're fine." Instantly, the patrol moved forward. Rainpaw and Dustpaw caught up with Bramblepaw shortly, and the three continued to walk in silence until they reached the border.

"Is that a mouse, Bramblepaw?"

Bramblepaw turned to look at his sister, whose blue gaze was set by the roots of a pine tree. "It could be." Bramblepaw enthused. "We are near the ThunderClan border, it'd make since if one of their mice ran across to ShadowClan."

"Should I… go get it?" Rainpaw asked, Bramblepaw could see her whiskers quivering with excitement.

Bramblepaw smiled at her. "Go for it."

Rainpaw held her breath, before stalking forward, her dark blue eyes fixated on the brush. Bramblepaw could see it now, the dark brown small, yet fat mouse, scuffling through its storages. Bramblepaw watched as his sister approached it, her eyes gleaming and her tail swishing with anticipation. The mouse didn't see her.

In one motion, she dove forward, claws out, headed towards her prey. As soon as she was airborne, the mouse's head shot up, its large unblinking eyes expanding as it bolted away and out of sight. Immediately a shadow of disappointment shattered over the newly-made apprentice. Bramblepaw gave her a sad smile, parting his jaws to tell her words of reassurance.

"What in StarClan do you think you're doing!"

Bramblepaw nearly cringed at the sharp voice of Blackstorm.

"A new apprentice does _not _go after prey! Especially prey that is _vital _to our Clan's survival! Do you want to watch your Clanmates die before your eyes? Knowing that it is all burdened on your shoulders? It is ridiculous! It is stupidity! Do you hear me? The least you could've done was catch the mouse! It could've fed the elders! The death rate of elders during leaf-bare is high and your only increasing the chance of it!"

"Stop it!" Bramblepaw snarled, racing up to be face to face with the huge black warrior. "_Nobody _talks to my sister that way!" He hissed, unsheathing his claws.

"I will speak to _m_y apprentice any way I please!" Blackstorm growled.

With a yowl of fury, Bramblepaw lifted his paw, poising it to strike. He felt teeth fasten around his scruff as his claw was about to come in contact to Blackstorm. He was unexpectedly dragged backwards and onto his back before being released. He scrambled back up to his paws, his ears flattened against his skull.

"Bramblepaw! Stop this immediately!" Runningdust commanded. Bramblepaw looked behind him to see his mentor standing there, his hair on end and his tail erect.

"He brought it on himself!" Bramblepaw retaliated, spinning around to face Blackstorm again.

"That is enough!" Mousefall interrupted the conversation, her voice shrill. "Bramblepaw, head to camp _now_, Runningdust, go with him, and let's not start any fights on the way, shall we?" her voice was non-stuttering,

"Of course Mousefall." Runningdust meowed, accompanied with a sigh. "Get going Bramblepaw, you've caused enough trouble."

Bramblepaw noticed Runningdust glaring at him as they trudged back to camp. _Does he expect me to walk with shame? _He wondered, knowing how rigid his body was; but it was how he felt, he didn't regret his actions back there, Blackstorm _needed _to be taught a lesson. _I'll walk with dignity. _He thought smugly, going the rest of the way to camp.

"So what's my punishment?" Bramblepaw grumbled as they walked into the snowy fortress of ShadowClan. He noticed Echopool emerge from the nursery, a horrified expression on her face when she heard what Bramblepaw had said.

"You'll be cleaning the elder's den and checking them for ticks for the next three sunrises. You are also allowed on border patrols _strictly _under my supervision." Runningdust ordered; his voice hard.

Bramblepaw rolled his eyes. "Ticks don't come out in leaf-bare." He retorted. _Mouse-brain. _

Bramblepaw could feel embarrassment roll of his mentor, but the brown warrior quickly overcame it. "Then you can figure out the rest yourself!" he snapped. "Now get to it! The elders prefer their nest _not _covered in snow, and maybe this will teach you a lesson about attacking respected warriors."


	8. Chapter 7

** I have a lot planned for this story… Hehe it's making me excited. So far, I've planned up to 21 chapters, but there undoubtedly will be a LOT more. My story, **_**Calm Before the Storm, **_**I've written six chapters for, but I'm not going to post that story until I'm done, or almost done with it so that I don't disappoint my readers and abandon it. Also, can anyone tell me any color of pelt on a cat that I seem to be neglecting? Seems to me like there are way too many brown and gray cats in ShadowClan… I'm going to have updated Allegiances next chapter too. Sorry this was a day late, I couldn't find my laptop, but now I've got it! By the way, has anyone seen **_**The Dark Knight Rises? **_**Best movie ever.**

**Chapter 7**

"Bramblepaw! Stop wriggling your haunches so much, you're just trying to pounce, the mouse isn't going to be airborne."

Bramblepaw cursed under his breath as he stilled himself. The few days looking after the elder's den had made him agonizingly envious of his sister, Dustpaw, and Shrewpaw. They were allowed to roam around all of ShadowClan territory, whereas Bramblepaw had been stuck at camp like a kit. He had enjoyed listening to the elder's stories of the great Clawstar, who lived before Heatherstar was made leader. How much he wished that he was still leader.

"Bramblepaw!" he heard Runningdust's hiss behind him. "Keep your tail still." His mentor reminded through gritted teeth. Heaving a sigh of frustration, Bramblepaw stuck out his tail, holding it still. It was difficult to juggle all of these things in his head, while trying to catch prey as simple as a mouse. "Good! You have to correct positioning now, stalk forward!" Runningdust urged.

Slowly, Bramblepaw crept forward, his wet paws leaving small imprints against the sticky snow underneath him. His eyes targeted to mouse, he flickered his ears towards it, listening to the quick and soft noise of its heartbeat. Judging by how fast it was beating, the mouse didn't have any clue he was here. Bramblepaw smiled, confidence building inside of him.

"Go now Bramblepaw!" Runningdust encouraged in a whisper.

Bramblepaw glided into the air silently, excitement coming off of him in waves. He straightened out his paws for the landing, his claws glimmering. In the slow-downed moment, he could hear the mouse's heartbeat quicken. _No! _Bramblepaw wailed inside of his head as the mouse took off. The ShadowClan apprentice hissed in frustration, not hesitating to bolt after it.

He could feel blood pump through his ears as he sprinted after the mouse. Its eyes were bright and its heart beating faster than Bramblepaw could muster. He could hear Runningdust shouting his name; he ignored it, adrenaline flushing throughout him as he closed the distance between him and his prey. As his paws drummed behind it, its skinny tail barely brushing against them, he struck, swinging his paw across the ground and whacking the mouse into the air.

The mouse squealed as it landed with a loud _thump. _Its paws were twitching as though it were still running, its side bloody. Bramblepaw looked unsurely at his kill. It wasn't a very neat job, but food was food, right? He approached it, placing his claws on its neck to squeeze the life out of it. He purred in triumph, picking it up in his jaws to prance back to his mentor.

He met his mentor half-way; the brown warrior's eyes were blazing. "Bramblepaw!" He snapped. "There you are! What were you thinking, chasing after that mouse like that? You've startled all the prey in ShadowClan with the noise you make!"

"I got the mouse." Bramblepaw replied gruffly, though anger stormed inside of him, he subsided it.

Runningdust looked at the mangled piece of prey dangling from his apprentice's jaws. "A sloppy kill." He commented. "But what can I say, fresh-kill is food, if we don't eat, cats die, it's earned you a piece of prey anyways." Runningdust paused for a moment. "So do you remember what to do with it after you catch prey?" he quizzed.

Bramblepaw racked his brain. "Bury it." He said, pride filling him when his mentor nodded, a smile on his face. Bramblepaw proceeded to do so, dropping the fresh-kill at his paws while he struggled to dig through the frozen ground. Eventually he managed to dig a small dent where he laid the mouse and kicked dirt over it.

"We'd better head back." Bramblepaw meowed. "Aspenkit and Boulderkit's apprentice ceremonies are soon."

"I want to do a little training on the hunter's crouch first if that's alright with you." Runningdust meowed.

"Okay." Bramblepaw grumbled, sitting down. "Fire away."

Runningdust gave him a wiry look before speaking. "Now remember, we've practiced this before, but it does take moons to perfect it, so don't be disappointed if you aren't catching prey swiftly for the first few tries."

"I'm not." Bramblepaw replied.

Runningdust ignored him for once. "So you crouch down low, keep your tail erect and your weight evenly balanced throughout all four paws." Runningdust instructed. "When you approach the prey however, you need to manage to shift your balance to your back legs to prepare for the pounce. Now, it has seemed to me that the prey has been picking up on your excitement, therefore he detects you and runs away."

"So you're saying that I need to be emotionless." Bramblepaw concluded.

Runningdust twitched his whiskers. "Not necessarily, more so you have to remain calm and focused."

Bramblepaw sighed. "Are we done yet?" Runningdust frowned at the pale brown tabby. _Sorry I'm not a model apprentice._ Bramblepaw thought smugly.

"Yes, we can head back, I have us scheduled for a border patrol with the new apprentices afterwards, you know, since we never completed yours." Runningdust meowed. Bramblepaw nodded and whisked away to his kill, unburying it to grasp it in his jaws and carry it to camp, no words spoken between him and his mentor.

Bramblepaw arrived at camp, slipping in-between the edge of a small drop-off, and a large boulder that marked the entrance to ShadowClan. He was stopped by a crowd of his Clanmates, gathered around their leader who was sitting proudly on a branch. _Looks like I arrived just in time. _He thought, quickly going to drop off his prey before rushing to sit by Rainpaw.

"Boulderkit, from this moment until you've earned your warrior name, you will be called Boulderpaw." Heatherstar was saying, her eyes looking at the large form of Boulderpaw who was grinning smugly. "Antclaw, you will mentor Boulderpaw." Bramblepaw watched as the new mentor and apprentice walked towards eachother to lean down and touch noses.

"Aspenkit, please come forward." Bramblepaw smiled as the pale gray she-cat took a step, her stride filled with confidence and excitement. "From now until you receive your warrior name, you will be Aspenpaw." Heatherstar announced.

Bramblepaw joined in on the chorusing. "Aspenpaw! Aspenpaw! Aspenpaw!"

"Heavyfang, you are ready for another apprentice, you will mentor Aspenpaw." Heatherstar meowed. Bramblepaw saw the huge tom dip his head before coming to gently touch noses with Aspenpaw.

The Clan broke away as Heatherstar dismissed the meeting. "Come on," Bramblepaw nudged against his sister. "Let's go congratulate Aspenpaw." Rainpaw smiled vaguely.

"Okay." She mewed, following closely behind her brother as he padded over to their friend. Aspenpaw was sitting a fox-length away from her brother, her green eyes gleaming.

"Congratulations," Bramblepaw meowed as they approached her.

Aspenpaw's eyes shifted. "Bramblepaw? What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be with Echopool?"

Bramblepaw's blood froze. "Echopool? …Why would I be with her?" he asked.

Aspenkit furrowed her brow for a moment. "Well because…" She paused. "Oh," her eyes cleared. "That's right. Bramblepaw, Echopool's kits have been coming since you and Runningdust left to go hunting." She informed.

Bramblepaw immediately turned to his sister. "Why didn't you tell me?" he asked gently.

Rainpaw shrugged. "I thought you knew." She responded softly.

"Well let's go then, I'm sure that Runningdust and I won't be joining the patrol anymore," Bramblepaw meowed, heading off towards the nursery. He vaguely noticed that there was no fur brushing against his. Rainpaw wasn't following. He looked back at his sister, concern filling his eyes. "Are you coming?" he asked.

Rainpaw shook her head. "Tell Echopool that I'm sorry. Blackstorm wanted to go battle training." She apologized.

Bramblepaw looked over at the large warrior who was hovering over his son, most likely boasting about how great he'd be. He turned his gaze softly back to Rainpaw. "Be careful Rainpaw, the kits will be here to see you when you get back." He said with a weak smile before turning back around to walk into the nursery.

Echopool's cries of pain came to him before anything else. His face grew grim when he saw his nursing-mother struggling on the ground, her green eyes closed and her silver fur ruffled. Goldwhisker, Hawkpaw and Runningdust were all near, the medicine cats focused on their work while Runningdust paced, clearly agitated.

Bramblepaw strode over beside Hawkpaw, Dustpaw's sister. The light brown and white medicine cat apprentice was constantly nudging herbs forward to her mentor who was busily at work. Bramblepaw watched as Echopool stopped momentarily from her cries to lick up a certain herbs that was pushed her way. The silence was very nice, but soon she returned to her wailing.

"The first kit is out!"

Bramblepaw's eyes widened as Goldwhisker shoved a tiny wet bundle of fur towards him. "Lick it please!" Hawkpaw ordered. "In this cold weather a kit without warmth won't last long!" Hurriedly, Bramblepaw bent down to lick the kit's fur the opposite direction. When he finished, her tucked it under his belly, trying to keep it warm until Echopool was ready to nurse. It wasn't long before three more kits had arrived. Goldwhisker had announced one of them still-born, much to Echopool's misery.

"That's all that are coming." Goldwhisker finally meowed. The surviving kits were placed in the curve of Echopool's belly, free to feed to their content. Bramblepaw caught out of the corner of his eye, Goldwhisker handing the still kit over to Hawkpaw. "Bury it." She whispered, to which her apprentice obliged.

Runningdust sprinted over as soon as he was allowed, bending down to nuzzle his mate and new offspring. Bramblepaw only watched from the distance, a warm feeling in his heart. "What should we name them?" Runningdust asked softly.

Echopool tipped her head up to look at her kits. Bramblepaw couldn't make out their coat colors too well yet, but he was still able to manage. One was a dark golden-brown tabby with white paws, a tom. A gray she-cat was also present, as well as a tortoiseshell she-cat.

"Let's call the tortoiseshell Sorrelkit." Echopool mewed.

"Should the gray she-cat be Leafkit?" Runningdust suggested, to which Echopool instantly agreed.

"And maybe the tom could be… Rowankit?"

"Perfect." Runningdust purred in reply.

"Bramblepaw, come over and meet your new brother and sisters." Echopool called softly. Bramblepaw smiled, looking down on the three tiny kits.

"Sorrelkit, Leafkit, Rowankit… welcome to ShadowClan."


	9. Chapter 8

** Hmm I love riding horses. When you're riding and you close your eyes it just feels like your flying. Until my beloved Ranger decides that I should not be riding him and runs towards a low branch… I stayed on! Sorry, that was majorly off-subject haha. So back to the kitty world! Things get a lot more…exciting here. While this doesn't introduce the **_**main **_**plot it is a very important new plot that will tie into the main one. Updated Allegiances at the end of this chapter. I apologize that I haven't updated in awhile; I've been on vacation. Summer's almost over! *Sniff, sniff* Haha… yup, going into 8****th**** grade… might as well tell you guys, there are a million 8****th**** grade girls in the US, it'd be pretty hard to distinguish me from everybody else, okay anyways, enjoy this chapter and please review! Even though I believe that I did a really bad job on this chapter… I don't know why, it was just… bad to me… hm. Tell me what you think! And feel free to put up suggestions for what the series will be called, and thank you to all who have participated! I just want a few more entrees, and I'm thinking of putting it up for voting. Thank you so much for the reviews!**

**Chapter 8**

Bramblepaw sat in the entryway of the nursery, looking over fondly at the three small kits curled beside Echopool. Considering the time that Runningdust wanted to be in the nursery with his mate and offspring, Bramblepaw had been getting out less, snagging the opportunity to go hunting or battle-training any time that he could. Rainpaw was visiting the kits now, a fond smile on her face and her eyes large and warm as she looked at them.

"They're so wonderful Echopool." She purred, pressing her nose against Sorrelkit's forehead.

Echopool responded with a drowsy purr. "Lovely, aren't they? You two will have to tell me how the Clans react when Heatherstar announces their birth at the Gathering. Speaking of which, shouldn't you be leaving shortly?"

"I doubt that Heatherstar will take both of us." Bramblepaw meowed, tucking his head. "She'll probably take Rainpaw. I've had a bad experience with her and Gatherings."

"No." Rainpaw mewed. "She will give you a second chance, she _has _to."

"Maybe at Mousefall's begging." Bramblepaw argued.

"Well Heatherstar should be announcing who is going soon; you'd better get out there and make sure that you don't miss it." Echopool meowed, raising her head.

Bramblepaw shrugged. "Okay." He mumbled, looking over at Rainpaw who was still gazing at the kits, love entwined in her eyes. "Rainpaw, let's go." He meowed gruffly. Rainpaw slowly turned her head up to nod at him and faintly walked away from the kits.

"Goodbye Echopool." Rainpaw meowed softly. "We'll see you soon."

"Sooner than you'd think." Bramblepaw added. Echopool didn't respond to them, only smiled her goodbye to go back and nuzzle her kits fondly. The littermates trudged out of the nursery and out into the cold weather. Though new-leaf was right around the corner, it wasn't here yet, and even with the snow thinning, the temperatures were still freezing.

As they exited, Bramblepaw could see Mousefall gathering cats around her as she sat stiffly on the ground. _We got out here just in time. _Bramblepaw figured as Rainpaw took her usual place next to Aspenpaw.

"I hope that we get to go!" Aspenpaw purred, her eyes swimming with delight.

"I don't know if I'd want to go right now." Bramblepaw commented, ruffling up his fur. "I remember an awfully long and cold journey there and back."

"Oh please, you were just a kit then Bramblepaw!" Aspenpaw meowed, flicking her tail. "And we had to stay hidden for the most part, this time we'll be able to talk to cats of other Clans and get the full experience."

Though there was a lingering hope somewhere deep inside of Bramblepaw that he would be chosen to go to the Gathering, he immediately dismissed it; nobody needed to know, all he hoped for was that if Rainpaw was going to go that he went too, he wasn't letting her out of his sight if she was going into a large group of potential enemies. If Rainpaw went, he would follow no matter what.

"Heatherstar and I have decided who will be attending the Gathering," The deputy called, her eyes scaling over the Clan to ensure she had everybody's attention. Bramblepaw looked over at Mousefall eagerly, trying to let down that hope that filtered inside of him. He cast a glance over to Rainpaw who was watching emotionlessly, her eyes unreadable. A twinge of curiosity enveloped inside of him as he watched her.

"Antclaw, Blackstorm, Heavyfang, Runningdust, Dustpool, Shrewmist, Rainpaw, Bramblepaw, Boulderpaw, and Aspenpaw are the cats chosen apart from the medicine cat, deputy, and leader, who will be attending." Mousefall finished briskly.

Bramblepaw couldn't help but feel a stab of importance inside of him. He looked over at Rainpaw and Aspenpaw who were already whispering to eachother giddily in excitement. Aspenpaw cast a rogue look over at him to which he responded with a subtle smile, containing the cheerful feeling inside of him with ease.

"We'll be leaving immediately." Mousefall added; the expression on her face unchanging as she vanished into the leader's den for a short moment; only to return with Heatherstar trailing behind her. The blue-gray ShadowClan leader flicked her tail for the summoned cats to follow her. Bramblepaw caught his Runningdust's eye in the midst of shadowed pelts, and his mentor gave him a nod of approval as he fell into step beside his sister and his friend near the back of the group.

"I can't wait to get there! Hopefully we'll meet some of the famous warriors!" Aspenpaw meowed, her eyes shining with excitement.

Rainpaw nodded. "Like the warriors from the nursery tales?" she asked.

Aspenpaw nodded. "Yep, Rosestar and Stonefang… maybe even Burningstar and Rushfall – hey, did you hear that Rushfall had Burningstar's kits? Around our age."

Rainpaw stifled a purr. "Thank you for keeping me posted on the gossip Aspenpaw." She mewed. "Why didn't Rosestar ever have kits?" she asked a little absently, tilting her gray head.

"I think it has something to do with her being leader." Aspenpaw mewed, scrunching up her eyes. "I don't know though."

"Leader's that are she-cats aren't allowed to have kits." Bramblepaw put in his thoughts gruffly. "It's against the warrior code… them having to take care of kits for more than six moons doesn't do for a leader, they have more important matters to get to." He smiled, proud of his knowledge.

"Oh," Aspenpaw responded, nodded her head, her green eyes gleaming.

Bramblepaw was surprised at how easy the trail to the island seemed in comparison to when he was younger. He strode across the root-infested ground with ease, relief washing off of his shoulders as they neared the familiar fallen. He felt his heart beat pace increase, remembering his terrifying plunge into the lake when he was previously here.

He covered up his fear and looked to his sister to see her happily chatting away to Aspenpaw. He had to make sure that she got over fine; he couldn't risk her getting sick. He told Aspenpaw to go first, and Rainpaw to go second; he'd go last so he could supervise.

_Unless I fall again. _Came a nagging voice from the back of his head. Before he knew it, Rainpaw was over and it was his turn. Cautiously, he stepped onto it, his claws finding a much easier grip than last time. _I guess I am older now… _He figured, sticking out his tail like a twig to keep his balance better. His heart lifted as he quickly passed over it to join his sister and friend. He appeared with a wide smile but diminished it almost immediately. _Any of these cats I could meet in battle. _He reminded himself. _I have to be the type of cat who they _don't _want to mess with. _

"Hey look!" Aspenpaw lifted her tail to point towards a few cats chatting together animatedly. "They seem to be our age, let's go talk to them." She suggested.

Rainpaw nodded in agreement. "Let's!" She meowed, nodding her head vigorously, and the two sprinted off.

"Wait up!" Bramblepaw grunted, spurring himself into a run to catch up with them in time to have to halt before the other apprentices. The island was smaller than he'd remembered.

"Hi there." One of the cats chirped – a long-furred black she-cat who smelled like rabbits.

_ Obviously WindClan. _Bramblepaw noted, sitting back on his haunches but not taking his eyes off of the potentially hostile cats.

"Hello." Rainpaw mewed softly, her dark blue eyes glistening. "I'm Rainpaw, this is my brother Bramblepaw," she swished her tail towards the light brown tabby. "And my friend, Aspenpaw." She finished. "We're from ShadowClan."

The WindClan she-cat nodded. "I'm Mistypaw, and these are my littermates, Foxpaw, Sparrowpaw, and Mothpaw."

"I can introduce myself you know!" A dark ginger she-cat with white paws sneered as her eyes narrowed at her sister.

Mistypaw shrugged harmlessly. "Sorry." She meowed, but it was very obvious that she was not the least bit sorry.

"Ignore Mothpaw." A large ginger tom meowed, his green eyes holding some form of peace inside of them.

"Ignore me?" The she-cat – apparently the sister named Mothpaw, exclaimed. "Foxpaw, I expected you to be kinder to me at our first Gathering." She meowed.

"Who ruffled your fur?" said the last cat, a black tom with a white underbelly who must be Sparrowpaw.

A flash of emotion dabbed into Mothpaw's eyes as she struck her tail up into the air. "You know what? Forget it. I'm going over to join the medicine cats." With that, the padded away.

"Sorry, she's like that to strangers, very hostile." Mistypaw apologized. "Anyways though, even though I've done most of the talking, seems like I'll do more of it. We're the kits of Burningstar and Rushfall." That caught Bramblepaw's attention. His eyes widened as he inclined himself more, twitching his whiskers.

"Really? Cool!" Aspenpaw exclaimed. "They're like legendary!"

Mistypaw purred. "I wouldn't give them _that _high of praise." She excused. "But, yes, they're pretty well known."

A cry coming from the large towering branches symbolized the start of the Gathering. Bramblepaw turned and gave the leaders his devoted attention. His heart beating with the excitement of his first Gathering.

Boulderstar, RiverClan's dark gray leader was first to speak. "This cold weather has been hard on our Clan since our streams have frozen." He began, pausing after his first sentence to let cats catch up on what he was saying. "But fortunately, StarClan has blessed us with many mice and shrews. Our long-time friend, Jaythorn has retired from deputy-ship."

"Jaythorn! Jaythorn! Jaythorn!" Bramblepaw joined in on the chanting as soon as a RiverClan she-cat started it.

Boulderstar gave a sad smile. "In his replacement, I have chosen Owlpelt." Boulderstar drew his tail towards the pale brown and white tom that sat on the stump below him, who dipped his head in gratitude with a secret grin on his face.

Boulderstar then nodded to Burningstar across from him, and the large ginger and white tom opened his mouth to speak. "WindClan is doing surprisingly well. We have many new apprentices, who I honor as being my own kits." He gave a kind smile before proceeding to share their names. "Mistypaw, Mothpaw, Foxpaw, and Sparrowpaw." Bramblepaw chanted their names along with Rainpaw and Aspenpaw who stood beside the flushed apprentices.

Heatherstar was next. The blue-gray she-cat's emotionless face never changed as the cut to the chase of saying the new apprentice's names. Bramblepaw couldn't help but not rejoice at the Clans singing his name by the way that his leader had reported it so blandly. Unchanged afterwards, Heatherstar continued.

"We also have received two new warriors. Dustpool and Shrewmist. Our medicine cat apprentice has taken up the name Hawkleaf as well." Bramblepaw saw Rainpaw cheerful call out her Clanmate's names, and he chorused with her. "New kits have come. Echopool's first litter is Rowankit, Sorrelkit, and Leafkit."

Bramblepaw's hair rose in hostility at his leader, but worry coursed through him at the thought that someone may have seen his clear aggravation towards Heatherstar, so he licked down his pelt casually. Rosestar was to speak now. Bramblepaw could see that the dark cream she-cat had lost weight since their last encounter, but her icy blue eyes still were bright and clear.

"Cats of all Clans." Rosestar's voice rang as she began. "May Petalwind speak." She dipped her head then and Bramblepaw saw all heads turning to a white and brown she-cat who nodded in appreciation.

"StarClan has spoken to me." She meowed loudly. "They have sent me a message that is important to all; in which they said that we must send eight cats of Rosestar's choice, two from each Clan, to journey to visit the Tribe of Rushing Water."

"The Tribe of Rushing Water? We haven't contacted them in countless moons." An unidentifiable ShadowClan cat's voice meowed quietly.

"Rosestar gets to choose?" That had clearly sent Heatherstar over the edge. Bramblepaw looked at the hunched form of the blue-gray she-cat sitting on the branch, the hair on the back of her neck raised and her eyes slits.

"It's true, Heatherstar." Bramblepaw blinked in surprise as their own medicine cat, Goldwhisker meowed. "I received the same message at the half-moon."

"I did as well." RiverClan's Minnowbreath mewed.

"Me too." Said WindClan's Runningleaf.

"Then if StarClan has spoken, shouldn't we obey?" Boulderstar meowed stiffly.

"It is far-fetched though." Burningstar argued. "It is mouse-brained to send these cats in the thick of leaf-bare! They surely won't return living!"

Rosestar drew in a slow breath. "I do agree with you on that Burningstar, but do remember that our ancestors have done so, and that leaf-bare is almost over, I feel that StarClan will watch over them journeying." She paused. "Do we agree to this? I have made my choices if you are willing to listen."

"I think that this is pure stupidity!" Heatherstar snarled. "But I'll oblige if everyone else is."

Rosestar tucked her tail in through her paws. "I was thinking Stonefang and Goldenstep from my own Clan. Brightpool and Splashingfire of RiverClan, Rushfall and Foxpaw for WindClan, and as for ShadowClan, Bramblepaw and Rainpaw."

Bramblepaw's head spun dizzily in surprise as his eyes widened. He dug his claws into the ground and shared a glance with his sister. _Why me? _

"Rosestar, now you are being ridiculous even considering sending apprentices to do this task, it is a warrior's job!" Boulderstar protested.

"I know what I'm doing." Rosestar meowed darkly. "And none of the apprentices I picked were from your Clan, were they Boulderstar?"

"I suppose not. I agree then. In two night's time they'll be here to leave, but I do not have an opinion in your other problems, thus RiverClan will be leaving now." He announced, hopping down from his perch. In a wave of hushed voices, the Clan disappeared from sight, leaving only three Clans under the light of the moon.

"I disagree with Boulderstar." Heatherstar meowed.

Bramblepaw had to hold back a gasp in surprise. Heatherstar was letting him go?

"A normal apprentice should be able to do this feat easily, but the ones you chose from my Clan, are hardly _from _my Clan. They carry no warrior blood. You should seriously rethink your choice Rosestar." Heatherstar hissed, venom dripping from each word.

Bramblepaw felt a growl rising in his throat as his eyes fixated on his leader. How dare she insult his sister and him?

"Are you implying that you haven't mentored them well enough for this?" Rosestar asked, her eyes twinkling with mischief. Bramblepaw could tell was game she was playing at.

"Of course we've taught them well!" Heatherstar scoffed. "They just posses no natural talent is all."

"Then why would you welcome them into your Clan if they are no use to you? I was thinking that this would be an ultimate test to see whether or not they were worthy to your standards to stay in ShadowClan."

It was a dangerous game Rosestar was playing at, but it prevailed, as Heatherstar gave a stiff "Fine!" and stormed off the island with Goldwhisker following nervously. The remaining ShadowClan cats sat; unsure.

"ShadowClan, we're returning home." Mousefall croaked, walking across the log with such ease and balance that it made Bramblepaw jealous.

Bramblepaw caught his sister's dark blue eyes that swam with worry. Silently, he swallowed his fear; she couldn't see how frightened he was too. They were journeying practically into the unknown, of course he was scared.

_Don't worry Rainpaw. _He thought to himself. _No matter what happens, I'll be sure to protect you, even if it ends my life. _

**ThunderClan**

_Leader _**Rosestar – **Long-furred dark cream she-cat with icy blue eyes and reddish paws, ears, muzzle, and tail

_Deputy _**Hailwhisker – **Gray she-cat with white patches and blue eyes

_Medicine Cat _**Petalwind – **White she-cat with light brown patches and amber eyes

_**Warriors (toms and she-cats without kits)**_

**Stonefang – **Large gray tabby tom with green eyes  
** Apprentice, Thrushpaw**

**Flamewind – **Long-furred ginger and white tom with green eyes

**Grayblaze – **Shaggy gray tom with a white stripe running down his face; amber eyes

**Forestclaw – **Dark brown tabby tom with blue eyes

**Firestripe – **Golden brown tabby tom with amber eyes

**Redstreak – **Dark reddish tabby tom with dark blue eyes

**Silverdapple – **Pretty silver she-cat with pale blue eyes  
**Apprentice, Lightpaw**

**Goldenstep – **Golden tabby tom with amber eyes, formerly of RiverClan (Lightpaw)

_**Apprentices (more than six moons old, in training to become warriors)**_

**Lightpaw – **Pale brown she-cat

**Thrushpaw – **Dark ginger tom with green eyes

_**Queens (she-cats, expecting or nursing kits)**_

**Featherfoot – **Long-furred silver tabby queen

**Dawnpool – **Ginger and cream she-cat with brown eyes; mother of Flamewind's kit: **Sandkit **(Pale ginger she-cat) (4 Moons) (Thrushkit)

**Shinedove – **Silver and white she-cat; mother to Forestclaw's kits, **Badgerkit **(Black and white tom) and **Jaykit **(Gray tom) (0 moons)

**Snowfeather – **Sleek white she-cat with green eyes, expecting Redstreak's kits

_**Elders (warriors and queens, now retired)**_

**Bluedove – **Blueish gray she-cat

**Leafsparrow – **Long-furred brown tabby and white she-cat with amber eyes

**ShadowClan**

_**Leader **_**Heatherstar – **Slender blue-gray she-cat with cold green eyes

_**Deputy **_** Mousefall – **Little brown she-cat with green eyes

_**Medicine Cat **_**Goldwhisker – **Light brown tabby she-cat  
**Apprentice, Hawkleaf (slender light brown and white she-cat)**

_**Warriors (toms and she-cats without kits)**_

**Heavyfang – **Gray and white tom  
**Apprentice, Aspenpaw**

**Firestream – **Dark ginger tom

**Blackstorm – **Huge black tom  
**Apprentice, Rainpaw**

**Whiskerpool – **Black and white she-cat

**Antclaw – **Light brown tabby tom  
**Apprentice, Boulderpaw**

**Darkstream – **Dark tabby tom with burning amber eyes

**Willowbreath – **Pale gray she-cat

**Shrewmist – **Dark ginger tabby she-cat

**Dustpool – **Lithe dark brown tabby tom

**Runningdust – **Brown tabby tom  
**Apprentice, Bramblepaw**

_**Apprentices (more than six moons old, in training to become warriors)**_

**Bramblepaw – **Large light brown tabby tom with thin black stripes and green eyes

**Rainpaw – **Long-furred pale gray tabby-and-white she-cat with dark blue eyes

**Boulderpaw – **Massive gray tom

**Aspenpaw – **Light gray tabby she-cat

_**Queens (Expecting or nursing kits)**_

**Echopool – **Slender silver she-cat, mother to Runningdust's kits, **Sorrelkit **(slim tortoiseshell she-cat), **Leafkit **(Gray she-cat), and **Rowankit **(dark golden-brown and white tabby tom) **(0 moons)**

_**Elders (warriors and queens now retired)**_

**Rowanflower – **Ginger and white she-cat

**Whitewind – **Tawny she-cat with white paws

**Ridgewhisker – **Pure black tom

**RiverClan**

_Leader _**Boulderstar – **Dark gray tom

_Deputy _**Owlpelt – **Pale brown and white tom

_Medicine Cat _**Minnowbreath – **Sleek tabby she-cat with blue eyes**  
Apprentice; Honeyfall **(Very pale gold she-cat with light green eyes)

_**Warriors (toms and she-cats without kits)**_

**Splashingfire – **Lithe ginger tom with bright green eyes

**Whiteflame – **Pretty slender white she-cat

**Sorrelfeather – **Tortoiseshell, black, and white she-cat

**Rockthorn – **Black tom

**Crowfoot – **Large black and white tom  
**Apprentice, Swiftpaw**

**Beetleclaw – **Dark brown tabby tom

**Sunclaw – **Pale ginger tom with green eyes

**Brightpool – **Golden tabby she-cat with a white underbelly and green eyes

**Ivybreeze – **Silver tabby she-cat  
**Apprentice, Tigerpaw**

**Birdwing – **Gray and cream she-cat with amber eyes, mate of Rockthorn

_**Apprentices (more than six moons old, in training to become warriors)**_

**Swiftpaw – **White tom with black patches

**Tigerpaw – **Cream she-cat with black markings

_**Queens (she-cats, expecting or nursing kits)**_

**Twistwind – **Ginger tabby she-cat, mother to Beetleclaw's kit, **Redkit **(Pretty red-tabby with a white underbelly) **(0 moons)**

**Flutterfur – **Ginger queen

_**Elders (Warriors and Queens now retired)**_

**Birchfrost – **Tabby tom

**Sparkshine – **Ginger tom retired early due to terrible injuries

**Jaythorn – **Long-furred gray tabby and white tom with amber eyes, former deputy

**WindClan**

_Leader _**Burningstar – **Large long-furred ginger and white tom with amber eyes

_Deputy _**Streamfang – **Lithe gray tom with green eyes

_Medicine Cat _**Runningleaf – **Light brown tabby she-cat  
**Apprentice, Mothpaw**

_**Warriors (toms and she-cats without kits)**_

**Littleclaw – **Small tortoiseshell she-cat  
**Apprentice, Mistypaw**

**Barkleap – **Bulky brown tom  
**Apprentice, Foxpaw**

**Troutbreeze – **Tabby tom  
**Apprentice, Sparrowpaw**

**Springwillow – **Slim tortoiseshell ginger and white she-cat

**Rushfall – **Slender black she-cat with green eyes

_**Apprentices (More than six moons old, in training to become warriors)**_

**Foxpaw – **Large ginger tom

**Mistypaw – **Long-furred black she-cat

**Sparrowpaw – **Black tom with a white underbelly

**Mothpaw – **Dark ginger she-cat with white paws

_**Queens (she-cats, expecting or nursing kits)**_

**Blackcloud – **Pretty black she-cat; mother of Troutbreeze's kits; **Fernkit **(Pale tabby she-cat) and **Russetkit **(Russet-colored tom) **(5 Moons)**

_**Elders (warriors and queens now retired)**_

**Sparrowthorn – **Dark brown tom

**Cats Outside of Clans**

**Larchwing – **Sleek golden she-cat; formerly of RiverClan

**Shine – **Blue-gray tabby she-cat, lives at the Horseplace, formerly of WindClan, formerly called Bluewhisker

**Cave – **Big gray tom, lives at the Horseplace, formerly of WindClan, formerly called Grayblood

**Dew – **Pale gray she-cat, lives at the Horseplace, formerly of WindClan, formerly called Dewpaw

**Ellie – **Pretty plump ginger she-cat, lives at the Horseplace


	10. Sorry! Temporary Chapter

`** Hey guys! So it's been awhile huh? Yeah sorry about that… since school started I've found little time between its hours, dog training, and cleaning the house. Also, I couldn't type because my Mom had to take her laptop for work every day. And then I received the news that my parents were buying me my own laptop which I just got about a month ago, however our version of Microsoft Office was outdated and couldn't install on my laptop… so we ordered the new one which just showed up. So I was all excited to start typing up my stories again when my Mom's laptop underwent a ton of viruses and had to be taken in to be fixed, where it still is now. So when it gets back I'll be able to transfer all the documents over to my new laptop and begin story-writing once again!**

** Since I don't want this story to be attacked by rule-followers, I'll add just a cute little one-shot until further notice. Thanks for all your reviews and patience with me, I hope that some of you are still following this story.**

"Rainkit, watch out!" Bramblekit squealed as he barreled into his sister's small tabby build.

"Oof!" The squeak pressed out of Rainkit as they collided, tumbling and twisted up with no escape.

"Sorry!" Bramblekit cried, struggling to try and find his footing on the ground as they rolled away. Anger captured him as he found himself physically unable to deter their flight. Gritting his teeth, the kit finally put a halt to it, stamping his paws into the ground with as much force as he could muster.

He came to a jolted stop, smiling to himself as he stood upright. "Finally," he murmured under his breath. "That was rough, wasn't it Rainkit?" He mewed, lifting a paw to give it a lick. No reply came to him. "Rainkit?" he repeated, growing tense as he raised his gaze up to look around.

"I'm still tumbling!" Rainkit shrieked.

Bramblekit whipped around in surprise, looking down the hill to surely enough see Rainkit rolling away, paws over tail. _I didn't realize this hill was so steep! _Bramblekit thought with bewilderment. "Don't worry Rainkit!" he shouted over the commotion of noise that his sister was now making. "I'm coming for you!"

"Thank you!" He heard Rainkit whine, her voice growing more distant.

With that, Bramblekit took off down the hill, careful not to go to fast; he didn't need himself tripping and beginning the horrible tumbling process all over again. He managed to catch up with her faster than he'd expected, racing down the hill with his body facing her. "Don't worry!" he repeated. "I've got you!"

In a midst of confusion, he ran in front of her and sat down, hoping that his weight being here would stop her tumble. He was terribly wrong as her weight added by her momentum knocked him right of his paws. He gave a squeal of surprise as he was trapped in the terrifying cycle again.

"Not again!" he shouted in frustration. He tried to distinguish where Rainkit's scruff was, and as soon as he did, he grasped it in his small mouth and once again, planted his feet in the ground.

They both came to a sudden halt and Bramblekit let his face break into a smile at relief that it was over. Rainkit settled herself again and proceeded to groom the gnarls out of her fur, giving a purr of relaxation.

"So how was that outing?" Bramblekit asked. The two of them had decided to leave the camp and go to the big hill that Dustpaw was _always _telling them about. He spoke about it as though it were the greatest thing by the lake. Bramblekit and Rainkit had successfully climbed it, however when an owl frightened Bramblekit, he had ran and blindly collided with Rainkit, which led to this.

"That was horrible." Rainkit replied, tensing at Bramblekit's question. "I'm never leaving camp again."

** So, remarkably short, but was it at least fun? Entertaining none the less? I hope so, sorry if my writing is a bit patchy, I haven't actually **_**written **_**in a long time. Thanks for reading, tell me what you think! By the way… It's officially as of October 8****th**** been two years since my beloved kitty died. My penname is in honor of her name; in case you haven't read my profile. Rest in peace sweet Missy Moo Moo :-(**


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